LEXINGTON  SERIES,  No.  i. 


50  Cents. 


Heaven  on  J^arth 


A  Realistic  Tale 


BY 


GERALD   THORNE 


\i\\    York 

U  >VELL    BR(  ITHERS   &    O  >MPANY 

[41-155   E.   25th   Street 


PERKINS  LIBRARY 

Duke  University 
I^dre  Books 


LHWi 


HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 


REALISTIC  TALE. 


BY 


GERALD  THORNE. 


NEW  YORK-; 

LOVELL  BROTHERS  &  COMPANY, 

141-155  BAST  25TH  STREET. 


COPYRIGHT,   1896,    BY 
LOVKLL   BROTHERS   ft    COMPANY. 


TV/!  tf 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER.  PACE. 

Preface.  5 

I.     Introducing  Mr.  Scott, 9 

II.     A  Bit  of  History,    -- 31 

III.  The  Spiritual  ScnooL, 41 

IV.  Tjie  New  Home, 48 

V.     Out  of  the  World,    -    - 55 

VI.     The  Evening  Meeting, 66 

VII.  Mr.  Scott  Finds  Employment,     -    -    -    78 

VIII.     Social  Forces, 94 

IX.     A  Model  Excursion, 105 

X.  The  Tobacco  Principality,  -    -    -    -     118 

XI.     Complex  Love, 125 

XII.     An  Accident, 144 

XIII.  A  False  Inspiration,      --._._  158 

XIV.  The  Last  Enemy, 175 

XV.     The  Children, 186 

XVI.     A  Notable  Lecture, 195 

XVII.     Modern  Nicodemises, 208 

XVIII.    Mr.  Scott's  Decision, 223 


PREFACE. 

The  veriest  tyro  in  social  science 
may  see,  in  the  agitations  and  upheavals 
which  constantly  convulse  society,  evi- 
dences that  the  world  is  outgrowing'  its 
old  forms  and  customs,  which  no  longer 
meet  its  requirements,  and  that  the 
forces  of  progress,  which  have  been  so 
long  held  back,  are  ready  to  burst 
forth  and  create  for  themselves  a  new 
social  system. 

WHAT    SHALL    THAT    SYSTEM     BE? 

Shall  the  coming  social  revolution 
be  a  peaceful  and  noble  one,  guided  by 
an  enlightened  scientific  opinion,  and 
leading  up.  to  an  enormous  increase  of 
human  happiness,  or  shall  we,  by  at- 
tempting to  still  longer  enslave  man- 
kind under  the  selfish  system  which 
has  produced  such  deep  misery  among 
the  masses,  and  which  is  dominated, 
not  by  science,  but  by  hoary  traditions; 
shall  we,  I   ask,  so  dam  up  these-  grow- 


PREFACE. 


ing  forces  that  when  they  do  break 
loose  it  will  be  to  the  destruction  of 
much  that  is  good  ? 

In  the  following  chapters  the  author 
has  ventured  to  suggest  what  might 
prove  to  be  a  better  way  of  life.  He 
realizes  that  to  have  done  this  without 
much  regard  to  present  public  opinion 
is  a  very  bold  thing.  But  with  an 
earnest  purpose  to  give  expression  to 
those  principles  which  he  believes  are 
destined  ultimately  to  triumph  in  this 
world,  nay,  which  must  triumph  before 
we  can  cease  to  be  hypocrites  and  live 
according  to  our  prayers  and  profes- 
sions, bold  things  become  justifiable. 

The  experiences  here  related  may  be 
taken  as  a  susjofestion  of  what  can  cer- 
tainly  be  done,  at  any  time,  by  any 
number,  and  in  any  land,  provided  self- 
ishness can  be  subdued,  and  a  spirit  of 
unity  and  love  be  accepted  as  the  true 
basis  of  all  £ood  social  organization. 

The  author  would  feel  a  peculiar 
gratification  if  those  who  thoughtfully 
read  this  little  book  will  in  some  way 
record  their  verdict  as  to  the  desirable- 


PREFACE. 


ness  of  studying  out  a  new  and  more 
scientific  order  of  society,  with  some 
brief  expression  of  their  views  as  to 
what  the  new  life  should  be.  He  cor- 
dially invites  criticism  of  his  own  ideas. 
Would  you  not  prefer  such  a  social 
system  as  is  here  outlined  to  the  pres- 
ent one  ? 

Gerald  Tiiorne. 

New  York,  April  15th,  1896. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2010  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/heavenonearthreaOOthor 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCING    MR.    SCOTT. 

It  was  near  the  close  of  a  mild  day 
in  the  latter  part  of  May,  18 — ,  that 
the  steamship  Majestic  sailed  up  the 
splendid  harbor  of  New  York  and  was 
slowly  and  carefully  warped  into  her 
berth.  Her  promenade  deck  was  oc- 
cupied by  a  crowd  of  the  cabin  passen- 
gers, each  anxious  to  catch  a  first  view 
of  friends  awaiting  them  on  shore. 
Many  were  the  signals,  as  one  after 
another  was  recognized.  Handker- 
chiefs waved,  and  kisses  were  thrown 
back  and  forth,  from  ship  to  pier  and 
from  pier  to  ship.  A  young  wife  ac- 
tually fainted  from  the  strain  of  sus- 
pense, before  her  husband  was  able  to 
land  and  clasp  her  to  his  breast. 

Among  the  passengers  was  one  who 
had  remained  calm  and  seemingly 
unmoved.  He  was  a  pleasant-looking 
man,  apparently  about  thirty-live  years 
of  age,  rather  above  the  middle  height, 


10  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

erect,  spare  in  flesh,  with  almost  a  mili- 
tary bearing.  This  was  Mr.  George 
Alexander  Scott,  a  native  of  New  York, 
who  had  been  spending  some  years  in 
Europe.  Mr.  Scott  was  a  bachelor,  and 
having  neither  wife  nor  children  to 
greet  him  on  his  return  to  his  native 
land,  he  was  spared  the  intense  emotions 
of  his  fellow-passengers,  while  realising 
that  milder  feeling  of  pleasure  which 
every  one  experiences  on  returning 
home.  Expecting  no  one  to  welcome 
him,  great  was  his  surprise  and  joy 
when,  on  marching  down  the  gang- 
plank, the  first  person  he  met  was  his 
cousin  Louise,  now  Mrs.  Reginald  Vin- 
cent, of  whom  he  had  always  been  very 
fond.  They  had  been  much  together 
in  childhood,  but  he  had  not  seen  her 
for  several  years,  and  meantime  she  had 
married.  Learning  that  he  had  sailed 
on  the  Majestic,  she  had  driven  down 
to  meet  him. 

He  grasped  her  hand  and  kissed  her 
affectionately. 

"Come,"  she  said,  "you  are  going 
right    home   with    me.      I    have    come 


INTRODUCING  MR.  SCOTT.  11 

down  on  purpose  to  get.  you.  How 
well  you  are  looking,  George !  You 
haven't  grown  old  a  bit." 

"  I  was  just  thinking  the  same  thing 
of  you,"  he  said;  "you  always  were  a 
comely  maid,  but  now  that  you  have 
bloomed  out  into  wifehood  you  are 
sweeter  than  ever." 

Mrs.  Vincent  blushed  a  little  at  this 
hearty  compliment,  and  bade  him  make 
haste  to  get  his  luggage  past  the  cus- 
toms officers.  This  occupied  but  a  few 
minutes,  when  they  immediately  entered 
the  carriage  and  were  driven  rapidly 
up-town  to  her  handsome  residence  on 
Madison  Avenue.  Here  Mr.  Scott 
took  up  his  domicile  for  a  time,  enjoy- 
ing the  hospitality  of  his  cousin  and  her 
husband,  who,  by  the  way,  was  a  rising 
young  lawyer. 

A  few  days  later  Mrs.  Vincent  invited 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Langford  and  his  wife  to 
dine  with  her.  Mr.  Langford  was  a 
distant  relative,  who  would,  she  thought, 
be  pleased  to  meet  their  guest.  At  this 
dinner,  after  Mr.  Scott  had  given  them 
a  brief  account  of  his  travels  abroad,  he 


12  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

was  moved  to  make  some  rather  warm 
expressions  of  satisfaction  at  once  more 
being  with  friends  in  his  native  city. 
This  seemed  to  strike  a  responsive  chord 
in  Mrs.  Vincent's  heart,  for  she  ex- 
claimed: 

11 1  am  very  glad  to  hear  you  speak 
thus,  George;  I  should  think  you  would 
be  tired  of  roaming  about  the  world  as 
you  have  been  doing.  You  ought  to 
marry  and  settle  down  where  we  can 
see  more  of  you.  Just  reflect  that  you 
are  becoming  almost  a  stranger  to  those 
of  your  own  flesh  and  blood." 

"  I  should  have  tired  of  the  roaming 
long  ago,"  he  replied,  "if  I  had  not  had 
a  purpose  other  than  pleasure-seeking. 
I  have  been  making  rather  a  serious 
study  of  the  different  peoples  I  have 
been  amongst,  so  the  time  has  not 
seemed  long." 

"  Pray  tell  us  what  phases  of  life  you 
were  particularly  interested  in  study- 
ing"," said  Mr.  Vincent.  "Your  obser- 
vations  ought  to  be  valuable." 

"  The  laws  and  customs  of  different 
nations  vary  greatly,"  replied  Mr.  Scott, 


INTRODUCING  MR.  SCOTT.  13 

"  yet  each  seems  to  consider  its  own 
ways  the  best — at  least,  for  its  own 
people.  I  wanted  to  observe  them  all 
and  see  which  I  thought  was  best." 

"  Well,  I  suppose  you  reached  some 
satisfactory  conclusions,  did  you  not?" 

"Yes.  In  material  progress  and 
inventions  our  own  favored  nation  leads 
the  world.  I  n  some  other  respects  we  are 
too  complacent;  we  might  learn  much 
of  the  older  nations.  But,  looking  at 
the  condition  of  the  people,  there  are 
many  things  in  every  form  of  society  I 
have  seen  which  are  so  faulty  and  pro- 
ductive of  evil  that  I  am  inclined  to 
think  a  more  scientific  system  than  any 
of  the  old  ones  may  yet  be  devised." 

"  What  faults  have  you  discovered  in 
the  better  classes  of  English  society  and 
in  our  own  people?"  asked  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Lanefford. 

"  In  studying  social  science  we  must 
take  into  consideration  the  state  of  a 
whole  nation  and  not  select  the  favored 
classes,"  answered  Mr.  Scott.  "  Every- 
where on  the  earth  we  find  the  rich 
and  the  poor;  on  the  one  hand,  those 


14  HEAVEN'  ON  EARTH. 

who  cannot  spend  their  princely  in- 
comes, though  they  indulge  in  every 
known  luxury;  on  the  other  hand,  those 
who  are  unable  to  procure  enough  food 
to  keep  themselves  and  their  little  ones 
from  starving  This  comes  from  our 
living  in  a  system  of  competition  where 
each  strives  with  his  fellow  for  the 
possession  of  wealth.  Of  course,  the 
strong  and  capable  overcome  the  weak 
and  ignorant.  The  private  or  individ- 
ual  ownership  of  property  is  at  the 
bottom  of  it  all." 

11  But,  surely,"  said  Mr.  Langford, 
"  you  would  not  advocate  a  general 
equalising  of  wealth.  That  could  only 
be  done  by  overthrowing  our  whole 
existing  system  of  laws,  and  exercising 
force  or  compulsion,  which  would  be, 
in  effect,  robbery.  That  is  the  doctrine 
of  the  socialists  and  anarchists,  is  it 
not?" 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Vincent,  "that 
would  land  us  in  a  bad  state  of  things. 
And  even  if  wealth  were  to  be  so 
equalised  it  would  not  remain  equal 
a  day.     Trading  would  commence,  and 


introducing;  mr.  scott.  15 

some  would  gain  while  others  lost;  so 
we  would,  after  a  time,  be  back  where 
we  are  now,  with  the  rich  and  poor 
as  you  have  described  them." 

"I  have  no  thought  of  advocating 
any  such  forcible  equalisation  of  wealth," 
said  Mr.  Scott.  "  You  will  have  to 
admit,  however,  will  you  not,  that  the 
present  system  brings  about  great 
suffering  and  hardship  among  the 
masses." 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Langford,  "that  is 
undeniable.  But  no  better  system  has 
ever  been  devised,  so  we  have  to  put 
up  with  the  evils  of  the  present  one." 

"Have  you  ever  tried  to  devise  a 
better  system?"  asked  Mr.  Scott. 

"  No,  I  confess  I  have  not.  It  seems 
to  me  that  if  any  better  social  system 
were  possible  it  would  have  been  dis- 
covered lono-  ago." 

"  I  do  not  see  that  that  follows.  It 
may  be  that  too  much  has  been  taken 
for  granted,  and  that  not  enough  study 
has  been  given  the  matter.  Some 
prophet  may  yet  arise  who  will  point  out 
to  us  better  ways  of  life.      I  do  nut  wish 


10  [HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

to  be  misunderstood  as  advocating  any 
of  the  foolish  ideas  of  the  so-called 
socialists.  So  long  as  we  have  all 
stood  by  consenting  to  the  selfish  old 
game  of  competition,  and  even  taking 
part  in  it,  we  must  accept  the  results 
without  complaining.  But  we  have  an 
unquestionable  right  to  adopt  better 
ways  as  soon  as  we  discover  them.  As 
population  steadily  increases,  competi- 
tion becomes  more  severe,  and  the  con- 
sequent misery  of  the  less  capable  in- 
creases. There  are  plenty  of  signs 
nowadays  that  the  strain  of  the  game  is 
becoming  too  great  to  be  borne.  The 
leaning  towards  governmental  control 
of  telegraphs,  railroads,  etc.,  merely 
shows  a  desire  to  limit  competition  and 
escape  from  the  power  of  concentrated 
capital.     The   jealousy    of    trusts   and 

monopolies   arises  from  the  same  feel- 

)> 

"  It  seems  to  ine,"  said  Mr.  Vincent, 
"  that  the  tendency  to  paternalism  in 
government  only  works  mischief.  The 
freer  competition  can  be  left  the  better 
for  all." 


INTRODUCING  MR.  SCOTT.  17 


"So  it  seems  to  me,"  said  Mr.  Lang- 
ford.  "There  can  be  no  such  thing  as 
establishing  an  equality  of  fortune,  and 
it  is  folly  to  expect  it.  We  shall  always 
have  the  poor  with  us,  and  they  must 
learn  to  be  reconciled  to  the  circumstan- 
ces in  which  Providence  has  seen  fit  to 
place  them.  Unless  they  take  that  atti- 
tude anarchy  will  come  in." 

"Is  there  not  still  another  way?" 
asked  Mr.  Scott.  "  Suppose  a  general 
change  of  feeling  could  be  brought 
about,  such  that  loftier  sentiments  would 
take  the  place  of  selfish  desires  of  owner- 
ship, and  would  lead  the  rich  to  volun- 
tarily share  with  the  poor,  not  in  any 
pinched  or  niggardly  way,  but  so  as  to 
elevate  and  refine  them,  and  make  them 
all  comfortable  and  happy.  If  a  new 
order  of  society  could  be:  devised  which 
would  bring  about  such  results,  one  that 
both  rich  and  poor  would  choose  to 
enter  without  the  slightest  compulsion, 
merely  because  they  would  be  happier 
in  it,  it  seems  to  me  a  new  and  wonder- 
ful step  would  have  been  made  in  the 
world's  progress." 


18  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

"That  is  something  we  are  not  likely 
to  see  in  our  day,"  said  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Langford.  "It  is  altogether  visionary 
and  impracticable." 

"  I  am  not  so  sure  of  that.  A  new- 
social  system  may  yet  be  discovered  or 
invented  which  will  have  such  advan- 
tages, and  be  so  attractive,  that  we  shall 
all  make  haste  to  get  into  it.  The  de- 
sire to  acquire  greater  wealth  than  one 
really  needs  is  rather  an  ignoble  one, 
when  you  come  to  seriously  weigh  it." 

11  What  other  radical  faults  have  you 
found  in  our  present  system,  besides 
the  inequality  of  wealth  ?"  asked  Mrs. 
Vincent. 

"  The  institution  of  marriage  seems 
to  carry  with  it  a  long  train  of  evils," 
replied  Mr.  Scott. 

Mr.  Langford  had  given  but  little 
attention  to  social  questions,  and  was 
like  very  many  others  who  are  apt  to 
think  that  any  deviation  from  old  ways 
is  morally  wrong,  especially  if  it  con- 
cerns the  relation  of  the  sexes ;  so  he 
now  spoke  up  with  some  severity  in  his 
manner. 


INTRODUCING  MR.  SCOTT.  19 

"What  you  say  suggests  strongly  that 
you  are  in  a  general  quarrel  with  society. 
It  is  all  in  line  with  the  ideas  of  foreign 
agitators,  who  would,  if  they  could, 
destroy  all  law  and  order.  I  am  sur- 
prised that  you  should  say  such  things. 
Marriage  is  a  divinely  ordained  institu- 
tion, and  a  great  safeguard,  whatever 
may  be  said  against  it." 

Mrs.  Vincent  seemed  quite  worried 
by  the  turn  the  conversation  was  taking. 
She  had  a  deep  regard  for  Mr.  Scott, 
and  she  realised  that  as  he  was  her  guest 
he  was  entitled  to  her  protection.  So 
she  said: 

"lam  sure,  Mr.  Langford,  that  we 
shall  find  cousin  George  on  the  right 
side  of  these  questions  when  we  have 
heard  him  through." 

"Thank  you,  cousin," said  Mr.  Scott, 
smiling;  "Mr,  Langford's  remarks  show 
the  way  the  average  man  looks  at  the 
matters.  It  does  not  follow  that  one 
is  an  enemy  of  society  because  he  sees' 
the  glaring  evils  of  our  present  system 
and  desires  to  find  some  better  way." 

"That  is  true,"  said  Mr.  Langford,  in 


20  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

a  more  quiet  tone.  "  The  difficulty 
lies  in  finding  any  better  way  which  is 
really  safe  and  practical.  It  has  never 
yet  been  done,  and  I  see  nothing  to 
indicate  that  it  is  likely  to  be,  however 
much  we  may  desire  it.  We  shall  have 
to  wait  for  the  millennium." 

"  Until  recently  I  have  been  forced 
to  take  the  same  hopeless  view  that 
you  do,"  said  Mr.  Scott;  "but  not  very 
long  ago  I  made  a  discovery  which  has 
interested  me  greatly.  I  had  not  in- 
tended to  speak  of  it  until  I  had  inves- 
tigated the  matter  thoroughly,  but  our 
discussion  has  gone  so  far  that  I  believe 
I  will  tell  you  about  it.  Let  me  say, 
first,  that  anyone  who  studies  history, 
and  observes  how  all  laws  and  customs 
have  been  modified  by  time,  will  realize 
that  there  is  no  such  sacred  fixity  of 
institutions  as  is  generally  supposed. 
Everything  changes  slowly  to  suit  the 
chancrinor  conditions  of  mankind,  and 
as  some  nations  are  more  intelligent 
and  progressive  than  others,  the  laws 
and  customs  of  no  two  are  alike. 

"  To  show  the  changes  wrought  by 


INTRODUCING  MR.  SCOTT.  21 

time,  take,  for  example,  the  statement 
that  King  Solomon  had  seven  hundred 
wives,  princesses,  and  three  hundred 
concubines.  There  is  nothing  to  show 
that  either  God  or  man  was  displeased 
with  him  for  this;  in  fact,  it  seems  to 
have  been  part  of  the  greatness  con- 
ferred upon  him  along- with  his  wisdom. 
It  was  only  when  he  went  after  strange 
women,  and  was  influenced  by  them  to 
set  up  strange  gods,  that  he  did  wrong. 
Since  then  customs  and  laws  have 
changed  so  that  in  our  time,  and  in  our 
present  system,  a  man  may  have  only 
one  wife,  be  he  king  or  peasant.  So 
feudalism  and  slavery  have  flourished 
and  afterwards  disappeared.  In  one 
country  the  eldest  child  now  inherits  all, 
or  nearly  all,  the  property  of  his  parents; 
in  another  the  youngest  takes  most;  in 
still  other  countries  the  children  inherit 
equally.  In  one  country  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  annul  a  marriage  or  get  a 
divorce,  while  in  another  a  husband 
may  send  his  wife  back  to  her  parents 
whenever  he  is  dissatisfied  with  her,  no 
judicial  separation  being  necessary.     In 


22  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

one  country,  when  a  man  dies,  his 
widow  is,  or  used  to  be,  burned  on  the 
funeral  pyre;  while  in  most  other  coun- 
tries she  marries  another  man  and  is 
comforted.  These  are  familiar  facts. 
I  mention  them  to  show  that  the  world 
is  not  chained  clown  to  any  one  form, 
but  is  constantly  changing  and  progress- 
ing. Observing  this,  I  asked  myself 
some  time  ago:  'What  would  be  an 
ideal  form  of  society?'  Did  you  ever 
stop  to  ask  yourself  that  question?" 

"  I  have  not  opened  my  mind  to  any 
such  speculations,  there  being  no  pos- 
sible profit  in  it,"  said  Mr.  Langford. 

"The  thought  never  even  occurred 
to  me,"  remarked  Mr.  Vincent. 

u  I  haVe  not  asked  myself  such  a 
question,  that  is  certain,"  said  Mrs. 
Vincent.  "  We  ladies  have  enough  to 
occupy  our  time  without  taking  up 
matters  that  only  philosophers  and  law- 
yers could  settle." 

"  That  is  true  enough,"  chimed  in 
Mrs.  Langford.  "  Besides,  until  the 
men  will  yield  us  the  right  to  vote,  they 
deserve  to  be  oppressed  by  old  customs. 


INTRODUCING  MR.  SCOTT.  23 

I  hope  I  may  live  to  sec  woman  take 
her  proper  place  as  the  equal  of  man." 

"  Hurrah!  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Scott.  "  I 
am  glad  to  find  one  of  you  who  is  not 
wholly  satisfied  with  the  present  system. 
It  encourages  me  to  tell  you  the  in- 
teresting discovery  I  referred  to  just 
now.  While  I  was  studying  these  sub- 
jects, and  wondering  if  I  could  do  any- 
thing to  help  bring  about  necessary 
changes,  such  as  would  do  away  with 
our  present  evils,  I  chanced  to  learn 
that  others,  more  advanced  than  I,  had 
already  undertaken  an  experiment  with 
a  view  to  establishing  a  perfect  social 
system.  This  has  now  been  in  progress 
for  years  and  is  very  successful  thus 
far.  Would  you  like  me  to  tell  you 
about  it?" 

"I  daresay  I  have  heard  of  it,"  said 
Mr.  Landlord.  "Still,  I  should  be  glad 
to  hear  your  account." 

"  I  will  tell  you  the  facts  as  I  have 
learned  them,"  said  Mr.  Scott,  "and  you 
can  each  form  your  own  opinion  as  I 
have  formed  mine. 

11  It   is    now    many    years    since   Mr. 


24  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

Robert  Temple,  or  '  Father  Temple,' 
as  his  followers  choose  to  call  him, 
undertook  to  establish  a  model  society, 
fashioned  on  what  he  conceived  to  be 
the  heavenly  order.  In  regard  to  prop- 
erty he  took  for  his  standard  the  exam- 
ple of  the  primitive  church,  as  described 
in  the  Acts,  where  it  says:  'And  all  that 
believed  were  together  and  had  all 
things  common;  and  sold  their  possess- 
ions and  goods,  and  parted  them  to  all 
men,  as  every  man  had  need.  And  the 
multitude  of  them  that  believed  were 
of  one  heart  and  one  soul:  neither  said 
any  of  them  that  aught  of  the  things  he 
possessed  was  his  own,  but  they  had  all 
things  common.' 

"  Reasoning  on  this  wonderful  record, 
Father  Temple  taught  that  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Holy  Spirit  everywhere  is 
to  destroy  selfishness,  and  that  when 
God's  will  shall  be  done  on  earth  as  it 
is  in  heaven  there  will  be  no  selfish 
ownerships,  but  mankind  will  become 
like  the  believers  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost ;  that   there   will   then   be  neither 


INTRODUCING  MR.  SCOTT.  25 

rich  nor  poor,  but  all  will  be  supplied 
according  to  their  needs." 

"Did  he  get  any  really  worthy, 
respectable  people  to  join  in  such  a 
movement  and  put  in  all  their  property?" 
asked  Mrs.  Vincent. 

"  I  believe  some  of  his  people  were 
professional,  others  were  of  the  middle- 
class,  well-to-do  farmers,  carpenters, 
blacksmiths,  printers,  etc.;  nearly  all 
of  the  trades  being  represented,"  re- 
plied Mr.  Scott. 

14  Were  these  people  church  members 
before  they  were  converted  to  the  ideas  of 
this  man  Temple?  "  asked  Mr.  Langford. 

'*  Yes,  most  of  them  were.  Some 
were  Presbyterians,  others  Congn  na- 
tionalists, Methodists,  Episcopalians, 
etc.  They  seem  to  have  been  a  very 
good  sort  of  people,  for  they  all  joined 
hands  in  the  most  fraternal  way  when 
they  entered  the  new  church,  and  they 
claim  that  their  old  differences  of  creeds 
and  ordinances  have  not  troubled  one  of 
them  since." 

4k  Do  the)'  believe  in  marriage?"  in- 
quired Mr.  Lanyford. 


26    -  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

"They  do  not,"  replied  Mr.  Scott. 
"  Remember  that  they  have  built  up 
their  society  with  the  idea  of  allowing 
selfishness  no  place  in  it.  They  began 
by  having  a  common  faith,  then  ad- 
vanced by  putting  all  their  property 
into  a  common  fund;  but  it  was  found 
that  selfishness  still  lurked  in  the  family 
relation;  so  they  put  away  all  marriage 
claims,  that  no  one  might  say,  '  This  is 
my  wife,'  or  '  This  is  my  husband." 

On  hearing  this  statement  all  four  of 
Mr.  Scott's  listeners  began  to  look  very 
serious.  Mr.  Langford  felt  certain  of 
his  suspicions  confirmed,  and  decided 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  open  Mr.  Scott's 
eyes  to  the  dangers  that  lurked  in  such 
schemes  for  social  regeneration.  Mrs. 
Vincent  judged  from  the  looks  of  the 
others  that  there  might  be  something 
disagreeable  coming,  so  she  hastened 
to  take  the  helm  again, 

"Where  and  when  and  how  did  you 
learn  all  this,  George?"  she  asked. 
"You  have  spent  most  of  your  time 
abroad  for  some  years,  yet  you  tell  us 
news  of  what  has  been  going  on  at  home." 


INTRODUCING  MR.  SCOTT. 


"  I  first  learned  of  this  society  by 
finding  a  complete  set  of  their  publica- 
tions in  the  British  Museum.  They 
excited  my  interest,  and  I  read  most  of 
them.  The  ideas  were  so  in  line  with 
my  own  thoughts  that  I  determined 
that  when  I  returned  to  New  York,  one 
of  the  first  things  I  would  do  would  be 
to  visit  this  society." 

"  I  am  astonished  that  you  should 
meditate  such  a  thing,"  said  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Langford  in  a  grave  tone  of  voice, 
while  Mrs.  Langford  drew  her  chair  a 
little  closer  to  the  side  of  her  husband. 
"It  is  all  well  enough  to  read  about 
and  discuss  such  matters  by  way  of 
keeping  up  with  the  times,  but  I  con- 
sider that  it  would  be  going  very  far 
to  actually  visit  such  a  society.  It 
would,  in  a  manner,  be  recognizing 
their  new  system  as  on  a  level  with 
ours,  and  would  tend  to  give  them  new 
confidence  that  their  ideas  may  ulti- 
mately be  accepted." 

"  If  that  is  true  I  certainly  will  go," 
said  Mr.  Scott,  dryly.  "  1  have  become 
so    interested     in    the    ideas    of    these 


28  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

people  and  their  work,  that  if  I  find 
them  to  be  what  I  hope  and  expect,  I 
may  cast  my  lot  with  them  and  join  the 
society." 

At  this  all  his  listeners  laughed 
heartily.  It  struck  them  that  their 
credulity  was  being  imposed  upon. 
Mr.  Scott,  however,  was  evidently 
quite  serious  in  ,  what  he  said.  He 
beeped  them  to  listen  to  him  a  little 
further,  and  continued  thus: 

"It  seems  to  be  difficult  for  you  to 
conceive  of  a  man  in  my  position  tak- 
ing such  a  step,  but  I  assure  you  it  is 
exactly  in  line  with  my  deepest  con- 
victions. I  want  to  do  some  good  in 
the  world  before  I  die,  and  I  look  upon 
these  people  as  heroes.  They  are  cer- 
tainly worthy  of  respectful  study,  having 
made  a  more  altruistic  effort  than  either 
of  us  has  ever  made." 

"  Yes,  but,  George,  think  of  your  large 
property!  Are  you  going  to  risk  that 
in  such  a  radical  experiment?"  asked 
Mrs.  Vincent. 

"  I  shall  do  nothing  rashly.  The 
visit  I  propose  will  do  no  harm  ;  but  if 


INTRODUCING  MR.  SCOTT.  S9 

I  find  these  people  to  be  what  I  expect, 
I  shall  not  hesitate  to  join  them  if  they 
will  receive  me." 

"  Let  me  venture  a  suggestion,"  said 
L.Ir.  Vincent.  "  It  will  he  only  exercis- 
ing common  prudence  for  you  to  try  it 
a  year  on  prohation,  before  parting  with 
all  your  property.  I  presume  they 
would  take  you  in  that  way,  and  you 
would  then  have  ample  opportunity  to 
study  the  system  as  you  desire,  without 
taking  unnecessary  risks." 

11  That  is  a  good  idea,"  said  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Langford.  "As  a  probationary 
member  Mr.  Scott  will  not  share  in  any 
of  their  possible  disasters,  while  he  will 
get  his  eyes  open  to  the  fallacies  of  their 
system.  These  socialistic  movements 
are  all  alike,  and  all  are  equally  certain 
to  end  in  failure.  By  the  way,  what  is 
the  name  of  this  model  society  from 
which  you  expect  so  much."" 

"It 'is  called  'The  Society  of  the 
Perfect  Life."' 

"  I  have  never  heard  of  it,  '  said  Mr. 
Langford. 

"  If  cousin  George   is  determined  to 


30  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

go  and  spend  a  year  with  these  people 
on  probation,"  said  Mrs.  Vincent, 
"  would  it  not  be  a  good  idea  for  us  all 
to  meet  here  again  at  the  expiration  of 
the  time  and  hear  his  report.  Will  you 
not  be  willing,  George,  to  o-ive  us  the 
benefit  of  your  experience  so  that  we 
may  not  have  to  go  through  it  our- 
selves ?" 

"  Most  certainly;  but  it  may  prove  so 
attractive  that  you  will  wish  to  go 
through  it.  I  will  not  pledge  myself 
not  to  join  the  society  within  the  year. 
My  life  is  more  important  to  me  than 
to  others,  and  a  year  is  a  considerable 
part  of  it;  so-  I  shall  do  what  seems 
wisest.  But  I  will  return  at  the  end  of 
the  year  and  report  to  you  what  I  have 
found,  if  my  life  is  spared." 

"  Very  well,  then,"  said  Mrs.  Vincent; 
"  you  will  all  dine  with  me  again  a  year 
from  now,  when  I  send  you  notice  of 
cousin  George's  return;"  and  with  that 
the  party  broke  up. 


CHAPTER  II. 

A    BIT    OF    HISTORY. 

Whenever  a  man  does  anything  out 
of  the  ordinary  course  his  motives  and 
purposes  are  very  apt  to  be  miscon- 
strued; so,  before  we  accompany  Mr. 
Scott  to  the  home  of  the  Perfect  Life, 
the  reader  ought  to  learn  a  little  more 
fully  how  that  home  came  to  be  estab- 
lished. Where  did  its  founder  get  his 
inspiration?  Were  his  motives  good 
or  bad?  Was  his  religion  genuine,  or 
was  his  movement  only  a  cleverly  de- 
vised scheme  for  selfish  ends?  These 
are  things  we  ought  to  know  at  the 
outset,  to  enable  us  to  form  sound 
opinions  as  we  go  along. 

Robert  Temple  was  born  of  a  good 
New  England  family,  and  being  a 
bright  lad,  he  was  sent  to  college  at  an 
early  age,  where  he  graduated  with 
honor.      He  then   chose  the  legal  pro- 


32  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

fession.  As  there  were  no  law  schools 
in  those  days,  he  went  through  the 
prescribed  course  of  study  in  a  lawyer's 
office,  doing,  in  the  meantime,  a  large 
amount  of  labor  in  the  way  of  drawing 
up  and  copying  papers,  as  was  then  the 
fashion.  When  he  was  at  length  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar,  he  was,  for  his  first 
case,  assigned  to  defend  a  man  who 
had  been  arrested  for  some  misde- 
meanor. Having  conferred  privately 
with  the  accused,  and  learning  from  his 
own  mouth  that  he  was  guilty,  Mr. 
Temple  made  but  a  lame  argument  in 
his  defence,  and  the  man  was  convicted. 
The  young  lawyer  was  somewhat 
abashed,  on  passing  his  client  imme- 
diately after  the  verdict,  to  hear  him 
say  to  another  that  his  attorney  ''did 
not  plead  worth  a  d — n"  This  remark 
set  him  to  thinking.  He  had  lost  his 
first  case,  but  justice  had  been  done, 
and  it  was  better  so.  How  could  he,  as 
an  honest  man,  have  helped  the  guilty 
to  escape?  If  his  duty  as  a  lawyer  re- 
quired this  of  him,  and  it  looked  to  him 
as  if  it  did,  then,  decidedly,  the  law  was 


A  BIT  OF  HISTORY.  33 

not  to  his  taste.  He  had  a  strong  and 
logical  mind,  and  a  conscientious  desire 
that  the  truth  might  win. 

Whether  or  not  these  reflections  led 
to  a  change  we  do  not  know,  but  it  is 
recorded  that  not  long  afterwards  Mr. 
Temple  was  converted  during  a  religious 
revival  which  .swept  over  the  land,  and 
he  determined  to  study  for  the  ministry. 
In  choosing  that  profession,  he  felt  that 
he  would  be  at  liberty  to  follow  the 
truth,  lead  where  it  might;  so  he 
promptly  threw  aside  the  law  and 
entered  a  theological  seminary.  But  as 
he  progressed  in  his  studies,  the  same 
desire  for  truth  which  had  unfitted  him 
for  the  practice  of  the  law  prevented  his 
following  the  devious  and  illogical  paths 
marked  out  by  tradition  and  taught  by 
his  professors.  He  saw  that  the  Bible 
required  him  to  lead  a  sinless  life,  in 
full  conformity  to  the  divine  law,  yet 
no  one,  not  even  the  professors  in  the 
theological  school,  nor  the  most  emi- 
nent clergymen,  dared  claim  that  they 
had  attained  to  that  state.  Religion 
was  a  struggle  against  sin,  with  no  hope 


34  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 


or  expectation  of  really  overcoming  it. 

At  length  Mr.  Temple  prepared  and 
read  before  his  society  at  the  seminary 
an  elaborate  essay  on  the  question, 
"  Why  does  not  the  Christian  Church 
at  the  present  day  advance  as  rapidly 
as  the  primitive  church  did  towards  the 
conquest  of  the  world?"  His  answer 
in  substance  was  this: 

i.  The  primitive  church  freely  and 
earnestly  preached  the  doctrine  of  per- 
fection; whereas  modern  churches  have 
fallen  back  on  the  7th  chapter  of 
Romans,  and  are  afraid  to  say  any- 
thing about  perfection. 

2.  The  primitive  church  took  hold  on 
the  full  strength  of  God  by  the  prayer 
of  faith;  whereas  modern  churches  think 
that  the  "  age  of  miracles  is  past,"  and, 
therefore,  dare  not  expect  actual  and 
immediate  answers  to  their  prayers. 

3.  The  primitive  church  relied  first  on 
personal  holiness,  secondly  on  prayer, 
and  thirdly  on  preaching,  as  the 
means  of  converting  the  world.  The 
apostles  first  yielded  themselves  wholly 
to  God;  then,  with  their  right  hand  they 


A  BIT  OF  HISTORY.  35 

laid  hold  on  His  strength,  while  with 
their  left  they  drew  men  out  of  the  mire 
of  sin.  Whereas  the  modern  churches, 
reversing  the  order,  rely  first  on  preach- 
ing, secondly  on  prayer,  and  lastly  on 
personal  holiness;  and,  with  little  con- 
fidence in  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  lay 
hold  on  sinners  with  both  hands.  Hav- 
ing nothing  to  support  them,  it  is  not 
strange  that  instead  of  pulling  sinners 
out  of  the  mire  they  are  often  pulled 
into  it  themselves.  In  conclusion  Mr. 
Temple  proposed  as  a  motto,  and  as  a 
memorial  of  the  order  in  which  the  three 
great  subjects  ought  to  stand  in  people's 
minds,  the  words  "Perfection,  Prayer, 
PreacJiing" 

This  essay  caused  no  disturbance,  nor 
was  it  regarded  as  heretical  in  any 
degree.  But  when,  led  on  by  a  course 
of  reasoning  so  logical  that  it  was  irre- 
sistible, Mr.  Temple  began  to  teach  that 
men  must  actually  attain  to  personal 
holiness  if  they  would  be  saved,  doubts 
arose  as  to  the  soundness  ol  his  theol- 
ogy. He  himself  underwent  an  inward 
struggle.     He  felt  that  he  was  trying  to 


36  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

save  others  from  sin  while  he  himself 
was  not  saved.  The  pressure  of  convic- 
tion became  so  great  that  he  withdrew 
from  all  public  labors,  and  gave  himself 
up  to  prayer,  searching  the  scriptures, 
and  striving  after  full  salvation  from  sin. 
The  law  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart''1  was  ever 
before  his  mind  as  the  only  standard  of 
righteousness,  and  the  very  beginning 
of  all  virtue.  In  the  blaze  of  that  law 
all  his  works  and  experience  and  hopes 
faded  into  vanity. 

Then  came  the  healing  and  the  en- 
tering on  the  upward  path  that  led  to 
salvation.  The  first  step  was  to  have 
faith,  to  take  God  at  His  word  and 
believe  Him  implicitly.  Then  he 
learned  to  listen  for  the  voice  of  God 
directing  him.  Sometimes  he  opened 
the  Bible  and  read  the  first  verses  his 
eyes  fell  upon.  They  bore  on  the  very 
question  he  was  mentally  asking,  and 
he  felt  that  God  had  answered  him. 
He  saw  that  Christ's  resurrection  was 
the  central  point  on  which  our  faith 
should   lay  hold,  and  the  necessity  of 


A  BIT  OF  HISTORY.  N 

confession  as  the  complement  of  inward 
belief  was  forced  upon  his  mind.  He 
determined  at  all  hazards  to  at  once 
confess  Christ,  in  himself,  a  Saviour 
from  sin,  believing'  that  God  called  him 
to  this  course  and  would  justify  him  in  it. 

Just  then  it  fell  to  his  lot  to  preach  in 
the  evening  at  a  church.  He  prepared 
himself  during  the  day  for  an  unflinch- 
ing testimony  against  all  sin.  When  he 
announced  from  the  pulpit  his  text,  "He 
that  committeth  sin  is  of  the  devil,"  he 
felt,  and  no  doubt  the  congregation 
felt,  that  he  was  entering  upon  a  new 
field  of  theology.  He  insisted  upon  the 
literal  meaning  of  the  text,  and  did  his 
best  to  prove  that  sinners  are  not 
Christians. 

The  next  morning  one  of  the  theo 
logical  students  who  had  heard  his  dis- 
course  the  evening  before  went  to  labor 
with  Mr.  Temple  in  regard  to  it.  He 
thought  it  altogether  too  stringent,  and 
wished  to  know  if  Mr.  Temple  really 
meant  what  he  said — that  a  sinner  cannot 
be  a  Christian.  He  was  assured  that 
he   did  so  mean.      Then  came  the  ar- 


38  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

gumentum  ad  hominem,  "  Don't  you 
commit  sin?"  The  answer  was  given 
deliberately  but  firmly  "  No  !  " 

The  man  stared  as  though  a  thunder- 
bolt  had  fallen,  and  rushed  away  to  tell 
the  news.  In  a  few  hours  the  word  was 
passed  through  the  college  and  the  city, 
"Temple  says  he  is  perfect;"  and  on 
the  heels  of  this  report,  "  Temple  is 
crazy." 

The  confession  was  made,  and  the 
consequences  came  promptly.  One  of 
the  professors  called  at  Mr.  Temple's 
room  to  notify  him  that  he  was  soon  to 
be  tried  for  heresy.  He  laughed  Mr. 
Temple's  confession  to  scorn,  asserting 
that  it  is  pyhsically  impossible  for  any 
man  to  feel  the  spirit  of  God.  Mr. 
Temple  asked  the  professor  if  he  did  not 
commit  sin  ?  He  admitted  "that  he  did. 
Thereupon  Mr.  Temple  repeated  the 
text,  "  He  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the 
devil" 

"You  say,  then,"  said  the  professor, 
"  that  I  am  of  the  devil,  do  you?" 

"  No,"  replied  Mr.  Temple ;  "you 
said   you    committed   sin,   and    I    only 


A  RIT  OF  HISTORY.  39 

quoted  the  words  from  the  Bible,  'He 
that  committeth  sin  is  of  the  devil.'" 

"  Well,"  said  the  professor,  "you  are 
a  sinner  now,  if  you  were  not  when  I 
came  in,  for  you  have  not  treated  me 
courteously." 

"  In  such  a  case  as  this,"  quietly  ob- 
served Mr.  Temple,  "the  best  kind  of 
courtesy  is  plainness  of  speech." 

The  professor  left,  and  Mr.  Temple 
soon  resigned  his  position.  He  had 
lost  his  standing  in  the  church  where 
he  had  preached,  in  the  ministry,  and 
in  the  college.  His  good  name  in  the 
great  world  was  gone;  his  friends  were 
fast  falling  away.  He  was  beginning 
to  be  an  outcast ;  yet  he  rejoiced,  be- 
cause he  felt  the  love  of  God  with  him. 
Someone  asked  him  whether  he  should 
continue  to  preach,  now  that  the  clergy 
had  taken  away  his  license.  He  replied: 
"  I  have  taken  away  their  license  to  sin, 
and  they  keep  on  sinning.  So,  though 
they  have  taken  away  my  license  to 
preach,  I  shall  keep  on  preaching." 

While  he  was  going  through  these 
deep    spiritual    struggles,    it    was     Mr. 


40  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

Temple's  habit  to  read  the  New  Testa- 
ment through  by  course,  over  and  over 
a£ain,  each  time  with  his  attention  on 
some  particular  subject.  He  had  broken 
away  from  all  the  old  trammels  of 
thought  and  belief,  and  had  opened  his 
heart  to  receive  the  truth  in  a  spirit  of 
simple  faith.  In  reading  the  Testa- 
ment thus,  he  made  the  momentous 
discovery  that  Christ's  Second  Coming 
took  place  long  ago,  within  the  lifetime 
of  some  of  His  disciples,  or  about  the 
time  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 
He  saw  that  the  churches  had  for  nearly 
two  thousand  years  been  looking  in  the 
wrong  direction  for  that  event ;  that  the 
first  judgment  has  taken  place,  and  that 
we,  who  are  now  on  the  earth,  are  liv- 
ing in  "the  times  of  the  Gentiles." 

This  discovery  greatly  strengthened 
his  faith,  and  he  determined  that  he 
would  hold  himself  in  the  attitude  of  a 
young  convert  forever,  asking  God  to 
lead  him  and  teach  him  the  true  way. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  SPIRITUAL  SCHOOL. 

For  two  or  three  years  after  breaking 
away  from  the  churches,  Robert  Temple 
led  a  wandering  and  uncertain  life.  His 
faith  grew  stronger  in  the  troubles  and 
vicissitudes  through  which  he  passed. 
At  length  his  destined  career  opened 
before  him.  He  was  to  be  a  social 
reformer.  It  is  interesting  to  notice 
how  he  was  led  along,  step  by  step,  into 
his  final  life-work,  without  himself  know- 
ing whither  his  course  lay.  He  aban- 
doned himself  to  the  inspiration  which 
came  upon  him,  believing  it  to  be  from 
on  high.  No  one  could  have  had  a 
more  earnest  and  sincere  purpose  to  fol- 
low wherever  the  spirit  of  truth  led. 
His  mind  was  logical  in  its  action;  he 
cared  nothing  for  the  opinions  of  the 
world,  but  thought  only  how  he  might 
please  God. 

The  next  we  learn  of  Mr.  Temple  is 


42  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

that  he  returned  to  his  home  in  an 
obscure  New  England  village,  where  he 
married  a  most  estimable  young  woman 
who  believed  in  his  doctrines.  Then, 
after  a  time,  his  mother,  his  brother, 
and  two  of  his  sisters  became  converts 
to  his  views  and  espoused  his  cause. 
As  the  years  rolled  by,  others,  one  by 
one,  joined  him,  until  he  found  himself 
the  leader  and  teacher  of  a  little  group 
of  families,  who  had  real  Christian  fel- 
lowship together.  Each  of  these  fam- 
ilies had  its  own  home,  the  members 
followed  their  regular  avocations,  but 
all  met  frequently  to  read  the  Bible  and 
strengthen  their  faith. 

During  the  course  of  these  meetings 
an  incident  took  place  which  borders 
on  the  marvellous.  After  having 
prayed  together  many  times,  "  Thy 
Kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be  done  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven,"  these  be- 
lievers began  to  say  to  themselves  that 
if  they  were  really  saved  from  sin,  and 
if  they  were  doing  God's  will  on  earth, 
then,  in  truth,  that  prayer  was  already 
answered.     The  Kingdom  of  God  had 


THE  SPIRITUAL  SCHOOL.  43 

come  on  earth.  As  this  thought  became 
impressed  on  their  minds,  Mr.  Temple 
arose,  and,  in  solemn,  earnest  voice, 
with  upturned  face,  exclaimed,  "  I  con- 
fess my  belief  that  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  is  come  on  earth,  and  that  we 
who  believe  and  have  given  ourselves 
wholly  to  God  are  now  living  in  it  !  " 
The  others  clasped  their  hands  and 
cried,  "Amen  !     We  also  believe!" 

Instantly  there  was  a  tremendous  clap 
of  thunder.  It  was  in  the  middle  of  the 
afternoon.  The  sun  was  shining  brightly, 
and  those  assembled  gazed  at  each  other 
in  wonder.  Then  they  ran  out  of  doors 
to  see  if  a  thunderstorm  was  approach- 
ing. Not  a  cloud  was  to  be  seen.  The 
air  was  still  and  clear. 

Was  the  thunder  a  signal  of  God's 
approval  of  their  confession?  They 
pondered  long  and  deeply  on  the  inci- 
dent. The  strange  sound  was  never 
accounted  for  on  any  natural  grounds, 
but,  in  after  years,  when  Mr.  Temple 
and  the  others  used  to  recount  the 
story,  it  remained  as  much  a  mystery 
as  ever 


44  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

Several  years  passed  in  these  peace- 
ful religious  studies,  during  which 
neither  Mr.  Temple  nor  any  of  his 
followers  had  a  thought  of  adopting 
new  social  forms.  They  were  intent 
only  on  spiritual  improvement  and  the 
attainment  of  salvation  from  sin.  But 
as  they  progressed  in  their  studies  of 
the  Bible  they  saw  that  selfishness  is 
the  great  obstacle  to  spiritual  growth. 
When  the  Holy  Spirit  was  poured  out 
on  the  primitive  believers  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  its  influence  led  them  to 
make  a  common  fund  of  all  their  money 
and  possessions,  and  it  seemed,  from 
the  story  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  that 
when  others  joined  that  early  church 
they  were  expected  to  put  in  all  they 
owned.  A  deep  and  earnest  purpose 
was  required  of  all. 

Mr.  Temple  and  his  friends  felt  that 
this  was  an  example  for  them.  They 
began  to  study  how  they  might  combine 
their  interests  more  closely.  Little  by 
little  they  found  ways  of  uniting.  They 
contributed  to  a  common  fund  for  pub- 
lishing a  paper  which    advocated   and 


THE  SPIRITUAL  SCHOOL.  45 

explained  their  doctrines.  This  paper 
was  sent  to  all  who  asked  for  it,  no 
price  being  put  upon  it.  It  was  a  free 
gift,  and,  as  after-events  showed,  the 
seed  thus  sown  bore  good  fruit.  But 
the  expense  of  publishing  the  paper 
was  a  heavy  tax  on  their  slender  in- 
comes. To  continue  it  they  established 
a  printing  office  of  their  own  in  one  of 
the  dwellings.  The  women  and  <nrls 
set  the  type,  and  the  men  turned  the 
press  by  hand.  Thus,  for  nearly  ten 
years,  they  labored  for  the  cause  to 
which  they  had  given  themselves. 

It  was  inevitable  that,  living  as  they 
did,  the  breath  of  scandal  should  assail 
them.  Anions  those  in  the  neighbor- 
hood  who  became  converted  to  the 
doctrine  of  perfect  holiness  was  a  young 
married  woman  whose  husband  was  an 
infidel.  This  woman  had  been  sick 
eight  years,  and  the  physicians  were 
unable  to  help  her.  She  had  been 
slowly  prostrated  until,  for  a  year  and  a 
half,  she  was  confined  to  her  bed.  For 
six  months  she  was  reduced  to  entire 
blindness.      In    the  seventh   month  she 


46  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

began  to  see  a  little,  but  required  the 
room  to  be  constantly  darkened.  Then 
she  heard  of  Mr.  Temple  and  became 
interested  in  his  teachings.  He  visited 
her,  and  as  she  listened  to  his  words 

7  A. 

she  believed  that  she  could  be  healed 
by  faith.  This  idea  took  full  possession 
of  her,  and  when  Mr.  Temple  again 
called  she  said  to  him  that  she  would 
do  whatever  he  bade  her.  He  told  her 
to  sit  up  in  the  bed.  She  did  so  with 
ease.  He  then  commanded  her  with 
great  energy  to  "  Get  up,"  and,  taking 
her  by  the  hand,  he  led  her  to  a  chair. 
Without  pain,  and  with  great  delight, 
she  sat  before  the  open  window,  in  the 
bright  sunlight.  Her  eyes  were  now 
perfectly  well.  She  gazed  about  and 
drank  in  the  beauty  of  a  world  she  had 
not  seen  for  years.  She  declared  that 
she  was  healed,  and  she  determined  to 
go  home  with  Mr.  Temple  that  the  cure 
might  be  permanent.  Her  sisters  and 
a  lady  friend  who  was  present  stripped 
off  her  extra  flannels,  cap,  and  "  grave 
clothes  in  general,"  as  she  calls  them  in 
her  narrative,  and  in  ordinary  dress  she 


THE  SPIRITUAL  SCHOOL.  47 

entered  the  carriage  and  rode  several 
miles  without  fatigue  or  pain.  She  was 
cured. 

This  wonderful  event,  being  noised 
abroad,  created  much  jealousy  and  hos- 
tile feeling.  The  local  clergymen  de- 
clared the  pretended  healing  an  impos- 
ture. Women  are  naturally  more 
religious  than  men,  and,  in  this  instance, 
they  were  inclined  to  believe  in  Mr. 
Temple.  Several  of  the  young  and 
most  popular  ones  joined  the  new 
church.  This  roused  the  men  to  a  pitch 
of  fury.  Many  acts  of  persecution  were 
undertaken,  and,  at  length,  Mr.  Temple 
and  those  who  had  been  most  intimately 
associated  with  him  were  driven  away 
from  their  homes.  It  looked  as  if  the 
spiritual  school  was  broken  up. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  NEW  HOME. 

In  a  beautiful  and  well-watered  val- 
ley, once  occupied  by  a  powerful  tribe 
of  Indians,  there  lived,  at  the  time  of 
which  we  are  writing,  an  honest  farmer 
and  miller  named  Ephraim  Dudley. 
He  was  a  sober-minded,  industrious 
man,  and  owned  a  good,  fertile  tract  of 
land,  on  which  he  had  erected  a  com- 
fortable dwelling  and  a  saw-mill. 

By  some  strange  chance  copies  of  the 
paper  published  by  Mr.  Temple  had 
found  their  way  to  this  secluded  spot  in 
another  State.  Mr.  Dudley  had  read 
them  eagerly,  and  had  become  a  con- 
vert and  a  regular  subscriber.  To 
help  on  the  work,  he  sent  out  copies 
of  the  paper  he  had  read  to  good  men 
living  near  him.  In  this  way  two  or 
three  other  families  became  interested. 

The  influence  which  went  out  from 
Mr.  Temple  had  this   characteristic — 


THE  NEW  HOME.  49 

that  it  never  died  out,  but  constantly 
orew  and  ur^ed  men  on  to  the  higher 
life  he  taught.  Actuated  by  this  in- 
fluence, Albert  and  Edward  Percival, 
and  Eugene  Hastings  soon  associated 
themselves  with  Ephraim  Dudley  in  an 
effort  to  establish  a  common  interest  on 
the  gospel  basis.  Thus  several  families 
were  brought  together. 

This  happened  just  before  Mr.  Tern 
pie  and  his  associates  were  expelled 
from  their  old  home  by  unbelieving 
neighbors.  No  sooner  did  Mr.  Dudley 
and  his  friends  learn  of  what  had  hap- 
pened than  they  invited  Mr.  Temple  to 
make  his  home  with  them,  offering  to 
place  all  they  had  at  his  disposal.  This 
invitation  he  accepted,  and  the  be- 
lievers from  the  spiritual  school  where 
he  had  taught  so  many  years,  soon 
rallied  around  him  again.  They  felt 
that  their  home  was  where  he  was.  It 
became  evident  to  them  all  that  the 
breaking  up  and  exile  from  their  former 
home  was  a  thing  planned  and  exe- 
cuted under  the  guidance  of  a  friendly 
Providence    in    order   that    the    move- 


50  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

ment  might  grow  and  develop  strength. 
Their  hearts  were  made  glad  by  the 
signs  of  divine  favor  which  appeared 
to  encourage  them,  and  they  resolved 
to  build  a  large  unitary  home  in  which 
they  might  all  live  together.  To  this 
end  they  organized  themselves  into  an 
association  which  they  named  "The 
Society  of  the  Perfect  Life."  This 
title  expressed  the  object  they  had  be- 
fore them.  They  were  resolved  to  live 
perfect,  sinless,  unselfish  lives,  expect- 
ing to  be  guided  thereto  by  direct. in- 
spirations. And  they  named  their  loca- 
tion "  Midvale,"  as  it  was  the  centre  of 
a  beautiful  valley. 

A  suitable  agreement  was  drawn  up 
and  signed  by  every  member  of  the 
new  society.  This  was  called  "  The 
Covenant."  In  it  each  agreed,  in  bind- 
ing legal  phrase,  to  give  all  he  or  she 
possessed  to  the  society,  absolutely,  and 
beyond  the  power  of  recall;  to  abide 
by  the  rules  and  ordinances  of  the 
society;  and  to  labor  without  wages  or 
pay  of  any  kind.  In  return  each  mem- 
ber was  guaranteed  suitable  and  equal 


THE  NEW  HOME.  -"il 

support,  in  health  and  in  sickness,  and 
equal  privileges  in  the  common  home. 
To  sign  this  covenant  was  to  enter  the 
new  life,  burning-  the  bridge  behind 
them.  Everyone  signed  it  cheerfully, 
putting  into  the  common  treasury  all 
he  possessed,  and  none  kept  back  a 
part. 

They  did  not  have  any  formal  elec- 
tion of  officers.  All  recognized  Mr. 
Temple  as  leader,  looking  to  him  for 
wisdom  to  guide  them  aright.  One  of 
their  number  was  appointed  to  keep 
the  books  of  account,  take  charge  of 
the  common  funds,  and  make  all  neces- 
sary purchases.  He  was  not  required 
to  give  any  bonds  for  the  faithful  dis- 
charge of  his  duty;  no  one  had  a  thought 
but  that  he  would  be  faithful.  His 
books  were  always  open  to  inspection, 
yet  no  one  cared  to  inspect  them.  They 
were  sure  to  be  right. 

Almost  the  first  thing  Mr.  Temple 
did  after  establishing  himself  in  his 
new  home  was  to  resume  the  publishing 
of  a  free  paper,  and  this  he  maintained, 
no  matter  what  the  other  financial  needs 


53  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

might  be.  The  free  paper,  preaching 
the  gospel  of  holiness  and  advocating 
unity  and  brotherly  love,  was  first  in 
his  estimation.  The  bread  thus  cast 
upon  the  waters  came  back  in  the 
shape  of  new  and  substantial  members, 
who  had  sold  farms,  cattle,  and  crops, 
and  who  brought  money  in  their 
pockets,  prepared  to  give  all  to  the 
cause. 

Among  those  who  joined  the  society 
at  this  early  period  were  the  Stanleys, 
the  Franklins,  the  Gregorys,  the  Ford- 
hams,  the  Morgans,  the  Millingtons, 
the  Floyd  family,  the  Pendells  and 
many  other  substantial  families,  besides 
sin  ode  men  and  women.  New  members 
continued  to  be  received  until  the  soci- 
ety numbered  several  hundred  persons. 

In  accepting  new  members,  no  prop- 
erty qualification  was  imposed.  If  an 
applicant  for  membership  seemed  to 
them  to  have  the  true  faith  and  pur- 
pose he  was  cordially  received,  even 
though  he  did  not  possess  a  dollar.  It 
is  certain,  therefore,  that  the  society 
was  not  organized  as  a  money-making 


THE  NEW  HOME.  53 

scheme,  else  those  who  had  contributed 
large  sums  would  not  have  been  so 
ready  to  share  with  the  poor  who  wished 
to  join. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  associate  life 
these  people  had  no  established  indus- 
tries capable  of  supporting  them.  They 
depended  on  the  money  brought  in  by 
new  members,  and  the  treasury  was 
sometimes  quite  empty.  Happily  they 
were  never  long  at  a  time  in  severe 
straits,  and  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that 
none  of  them  lost  their  faith  or  con- 
fidence in  such  dark  times.  They  kept 
right  along,  publishing  their  free  weekly 
paper  as  though  they  had  a  heavy  bal- 
ance in  bank. 

During  these  early  years  they  were 
forced  to  exercise  the  most  rigid  econ- 
omy, even  in  regard  to  the  necessaries 
of  life,  but  they  made  light  of  it.  There 
was  no  ofrumblinor 

By  degrees  profitable  manufactures 
were  established  and  the  income  became 
ample  for  their  wants.  As  the  society 
grew  in  numbers  and  in  wealth,  the  old 
buildings    were    replaced    by    new    and 


54  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

larger  ones  of  brick.  Additional  land 
was  bought  until  the  domain  became 
sufficiently  large.  The  business  and 
social  organization  was,  during"  the  same 
time,  perfected  as  experience  taught  the 
way,  until  every  part  worked  in  perfect 
harmony. 


CHAPTER  V. 

OUT    OF    THE    WORLD. 

The  sun  was  sinking  toward  the  hori- 
zon on  a  bright  day  in  the  month  of 
June,  when  our  friend,  Mr.  Scott,  after 
a  ride  of  several  hours  by  train,  arrived 
at  the  Society  of  the  Perfect  Life,  and 
was  installed  in  comfortable  _  rooms 
facing  the  west.  His  imagination  had 
pictured  a  large,  unitary  home,  more 
nearly  ideal  than  any  he  had  ever 
known  ;  and  his  heart  beat  high  with 
the  liveliest  anticipations.  J  udged  from 
the  glimpses  he  had  caught  in  a  rapid 
approach,  the  externals  seemed  to  fully 
justify  his  wildest  dreams;  but  these 
glimpses  had  only  served  to  stimulate 
his  fancy,  and  as  there  was  yet  a  little 
time  before  the  evening  meal  would  be 
served,  he  begged  the  privilege  of  tak- 
ing a  hasty  walk  through  the  grounds, 
saying  it  would  refresh  him  after  his 
ride.  ^Permission  being  readily  granted, 
he  started  out  by  himself. 


56  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

His  course  lay  through  the  park  which 
sheltered  the  mansion  on  the  north. 
Groups  of  maples,  pines,  and  other 
large  trees  were  separated  by  stretches 
of  smoothly-shaven  lawn.  Here  and 
there  were  masses  of  sweet-scented, 
flowering  shrubs,  while  in  various  shel- 
tered nooks  rustic  seats,  fashioned  from 
the  limbs  of  cedar  trees  cut  in  a  neighbor- 
ing forest,  seemed  to  entice  the  weary 
to  an  enjoyment  of  the  grateful  shade. 

Coming  at  length  to  the  brow  of  the 
elevation  on  which  the  dwellings  were 
situated,  the  view  broadened.  The 
noble  hills  on  either  side  of  the  valley 
were  covered  to  their  tops  with  forest- 
trees.  Below,  well-tilled  farms  ex- 
tended to  the  south  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  while  on  the  north  the  hills 
fell  rapidly  away  until  they  melted  into 
a  broad  and  level  plain.  At  the  bottom 
of  the  valley  the  clear  water  of  a  river 
sparkled  in  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun, 
as  it  wound  its  way,  with  many  a  turn 
and  tumble,  through  the  meadows  and 
pastures.  Herds  of  well-bred  cows  and 
flocks  of  sheep  were  grazing  near  the 


OTTT  OF  TIIK  WORLD. 


bank  of  the  stream,  or  lying  in  the  cool 
shade  of  the  overhanging  elms.  Groups 
of  men  could  be  seen  here  and  there 
laboring  in  the  fields  and  vineyards. 
At  a  distance  the  smoke  arising  from 
several  tall  chimneys  indicated  the  loca- 
tion of  the  factories  owned  by  the 
society. 

Turning  then  to  the  right,  Mr.  Scott 
obtained  a  good  view  of  the  stately 
edifice  of  brick,  trimmed  with  granite, 
which  was  now  to  be  his  home.  The 
lines  of  its  extended  front  were  so 
broken  by  wings  and  towers  and  by  the 
broad  portico  which  shaded  the  main 
entrance  as  to  create  a  most  pleasing 
effect.  Flowering  Virginia  creepers 
and  other  climbing  vines  had  been  care- 
fully  trained  along  the  walls,  while  little 
beds  of  pansies,  geraniums,  and  fuchsias 
dotted  the  turf  beneath.  Although 
there  were  not  many  people  to  be  seen 
about  the  grounds  at  that  hour,  most 
of  the  members  being  occupied  with 
their  several  duties,  yet  occasional  forms 
could  be  seen  at  the  open  windows,  and 
the    sound    of    children's    voices    came 


58  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

floating  on  the  air  as  they  played  some 
noisy  game. 

The  delicious,  soft  atmosphere  of 
early  summer  shed  its  charm  over  this 
beautiful  scene,  and  it  is  not  surprising 
that  Mr.  Scott  should  have  indulged  in 
thoughts  of  the  happiness  his  new 
career  would  yield  him.  He  had  left 
the  great,  roaring,  struggling,  selfish 
world  behind  him,  with  its  poverty,  its 
misery,  and  its  crimes.  Here  the  ex- 
ternal surroundings  were  such  as  the 
imagination  would  picture  for  a  home 
where  innocence,  unselfishness,  and  lov- 
ing friendship  should  banish  all  strife, 
jealousy,  and  selfish  competition.  Here 
flowers,  cultivated  by  gentle  hands,  shed 
their  fragrance  for  all.  Here  he  would 
associate  only  with  those  who  had  con- 
secrated their  lives  to  the  search  for 
truth,  love,  and  all  that  is  beautiful 
and  eood.  As  he  thought  of  these 
things,  a  great  sense  of  peace  and  rest 
came  over  him.  He  felt  himself  trans- 
ported back  to  the  light-heartedness  of 
his  boyhood,  when  he  had  no  care,  dis- 


OUT  OF  THE  WORLD.  B' 


trust,    or  anxiety.      The  whole  atmos- 
phere of  the  place  was  reassuring. 

Presently  the  loud  blast  of  a  steam- 
whistle  announced  the  hour  when  the 
labors  of  the  clay  should  end  and  the 
people  prepare  for  the  evening  meal. 
The  distant  hum  of  the  machinery  in 
the  factories   ceased;    the  men  in  the 
fields   gathered   up    their    implements 
and  started  towards  the  dwelling;  the 
work  teams  came  rattling  by  on  their 
way  to  the  barns.     Mr.  Scott  retraced 
his  steps,  anxious  to  see  the  people  who 
had   created   this    Eden,  wondering  if 
they   would    also   justify  his   expecta- 
tions.    He  did  not  look  to  see  finely- 
dressed  gentlemen  and  ladies  of  leisure. 
He    knew    that    the    members    of    the 
society  were  sober,  industrious  workers, 
that  they  had  toiled  early  and  late  to 
achieve  their  success.      But  would  he 
find  them  genuine  of  heart  and  strong 
of   mind    and   purpose,  as   he    hoped? 
Would  their  faith   have  worked   itselt 
out  in  their  daily  lives  so  that  they  were 
really  saved  from  sin  as  they  professed? 
And    if   so,    would    their    lives    be    so 


60  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

austere  and  forbidding  as  to  crush  out 
the  more  delicate  human  instincts? 
He  realized  how  keen  would  be  his 
disappointment  if  the  glorious  promises 
held  out  here  should  prove  deceptive. 
The  system  established  by  Father 
Temple  was  unique  in  the  history  of  the 
world;  nothing  like  it  had  ever  before 
been  attempted.  If  it  succeeded,  the 
true  path  to  social  regeneration  would 
be  opened ;  if  it  failed,  the  world  must 
struggle  on  in  social  darkness  for  per- 
haps a  hundred  years  longer,  or  until 
another  inspired  leader  should  appear. 
How  important,  then,  to  see  these 
people,  to  associate  with  them  inti- 
mately, to  study  them,  and  to  decide 
whether  or  not  he  would  join  them! 

Returning  to  the  reception-room,  Mr. 
Scott  found  two  of  the  members,  a  man 
and  a  woman,  ready  to  escort  him  to 
supper.  These  were  Mr.  Pendell  and 
"  Aunt  Julia,"  who  were  especially  as- 
signed to  the  duty  of  caring  for  visitors 
and  new  members.  As  they  entered 
the  dining-room  the  tables  were  being 
rapidly  filled,  promptness  at  meals  be- 


OUT  OF  THE  WORLD.  61 

incr  regarded  as  a  cardinal  virtue.  The 
men  and  women  seated  themselves  hap- 
hazard, just  as  they  chanced  to  arrive. 
Every  one  seemed  to  be  perfectly  at 
home  with  everyone  else,  so  there  was 
not  the  slightest  air  of  formality.  On 
the  contrary,  all  seemed  to  be  in  cheer- 
ful, happy  mood,  chatting  and  laughing 
as  if  they  were  an  immense  family  of 
brothers  and  sisters.  One  or  two  tables 
were  reserved  for  visitors,  and  here  Mr. 
Scott  was  seated. 

A  moment  later  a  man  clad  simply  in 
black,  tall,  strongly  built,  his  head 
grandly  proportioned,  entered  and  took 
a  vacant  seat  near  the  centre  of  the 
room.  His  hair  was  beginning  to  be 
streaked  with  silver,  and  his  counte- 
nance bore  evidence  of  deep  thought. 
Everything  about  him  betokened 
power — power  of  mind  and  spirit, 
power  of  will,  power  of  bod)-.  His 
expression  was  a  wonderful  blending  of 
gentleness  and  severity.  It  was  as 
easy  to  imagine  him  comforting  the 
heartbroken  cr  encouraging  those  who 
had  been  overcome  by  temptation,  as  to 


62  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

behold  him  assuming  the  majesty  of 
spirit  and  the  authority  of  a  leader  by 
Divine  grace. 

"That  is  Father  Temple,"  said  Mr. 
Pendell.     "  Have  you  met  him?" 

"No,"  replied  Mr.  Scott.  "I  have 
never  seen  him  before,  and  you  can 
imagine  what  a  gratification  it  is  to  me, 
when  I  tell  you  that  it  is  now  more 
than  a  year  since  I  first  began  to  read 
his  writings.  During  all  that  .time 
something  has  constantly  impelled  me 
to  come  here." 

"Indeed!  But  that  has  been  the 
experience  of  every  one  of  us.  When 
the  good  spirit  calls  us  we  must  sooner 
or  later  obey." 

Mr.  Scott  was  intent  on  studying 
these  people.  There  was  nothing 
peculiar  in  the  dress  or  fashions  of  the 
men,  except  that  few  of  them  shaved. 
They  wore  full  beards,  trimmed  to  suit 
the  individual  taste.  There  was  no 
rule  about  this,  but  the  fashion  of  wear- 
ing beards  had  come  in.  Perhaps  it 
was  more  convenient,  as  it  takes  time 
to  shave  daily. 


OUT  OF  THE  WORLD. 


63 


What  was  most  surprising  was  the 
appearance  of  the  women  and  girls. 
These,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
elderly  women,  all  had  their  hair  cut 
short  in  the  neck,  and  wore  short 
dresses,  with  pantalettes  of  the  same 
material.  The  skirts  came  a  few  inches 
below  the  knee,  and  the  pantalettes  were 
not  gathered  at  the  ankle  as  in  the 
Turkish  costume,  but  sat  jauntily  about 
the  foot  like  a  well-cut  trouser. 

It  was  surprising  to  see  what  a  youth- 
ful appearance  these  fashions  of  dress 
and  of  hair  gave  the  women,  while  the 
greater  freedom  and  ease  of  motion 
which  they  acquired  by  escaping  from 
long  skirts,  added  to  this  effect.  Visit- 
ors!© the  society,  of  whom  there  were 
great  numbers  during  the  pleasant  sum- 
mer months,  attracted  partly  by  curios- 
ity and  partly  by  the  beauty  of  the 
grounds,  often  mistook  women  of  thirty 
and  forty  years  for  girls  in  their  teens. 
These  women  were  bright-looking,  rosy- 
cheeked,  and  vivacious.  If  they  felt  that 
dread  of  being  peculiar  which  is  com- 
mon to  all  their  sex,  they  bravely  con- 


64  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

cealed  it,  and  stood  by  their  principles. 
They  sought  to  be  healthy  and  to 
crucify  mere  vanity.  No  doubt  they 
were  upheld  in  this  by  the  strong  influ- 
ence of  Father  Temple,  who  was  glad 
to  have  the  line  between  his  people  and 
"the  world"  clearly  marked. 

But  aside  from  fashions  of  dress  and 
of  hair  or  beard,  there  was  something 
peculiar  in  the  appearance  of  these 
people.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the 
life  a  person  has  led  is  recorded  in  his 
face.  Evil  thoughts  and  the  sensual 
indulgence  of  the  passions  leave  their 
indisputable  marks.  This  is  peculiarly 
true  of  the  expression  of  the  eye.  The 
cold,  soulless  look  in  the  eye  of  a  gam- 
bler or  a  criminal  is  easily  recognizable. 
So,  too,  good  thoughts  and  the  deep 
experiences  of  the  soul,  which  enable  the 
spirit  to  subdue  and  control  the  pas- 
sions, leave  their  marks.  From  the 
eye  of  a  good  man  or  woman  a  pure, 
refined  spirit  shines  forth.  Children 
are  wonderfully  quick  to  recognize  these 
differences,  even  where  older  people 
do  not  detect  them.     If  the  expression 


OUT  OF  THE  WORLD.  65 

of  the  eye  be  cold  and  wicked,  no  smile 
on  the  lips  will  deceive  a  child. 

The  peculiar  expression  which  was 
common  to  nearly  every  face  in  the 
Society  of  the  Perfect  Life  was  one  of 
purity.  It  begat  confidence  at  once. 
Mr.  Scott  was  deeply  impressed  by  it. 
He  knew,  instinctively,  that  these  people 
were  genuine.  He  learned  afterwards 
that  this  was  a  characteristic  often  com- 
mented upon.  Members  who  went  out 
on  trips  to  sell  their  manufactures  would 
sometimes,  on  entering  a  store  they  had 
never  before  visited,  be  welcomed  with 
some  such  remark  as  this : 

"  Good  morning,  Member  of  the  Per- 
fect Life,  I  have  never  met  you  before, 
but  I  can  recognize  one  of  your  people 
the  instant  I  set  my  eyes  on  him.  And 
what  is  more,  I  am  always  glad  to  see 
you,  because  I  know  you  are  honest." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    EVENING    MEETING. 

In  the  Society  of  the  Perfect  Life, 
religion  was  essentially  a  matter  of  the 
heart,  very  little  importance  being  at- 
tached to  external  forms  or  ordinances 
of  any  kind,  and  none  whatever  to 
creeds.  It  was  their  custom  to  hold 
a  meeting  every  evening  in  the  year, 
from  eight  o'clock  until  nine,  and  this 
assembling  of  themselves  daily  was 
regarded  as  a  good  ordinance.  These 
meetings  were  not  solemn,  formal 
affairs,  but  were  regarded,  rather,  as 
family  gatherings,  the  aim  being  to 
make  them  attractive  to  old  and  young 
alike.  The  children  did  not  attend 
them,  the  smaller  ones  being  put  to 
bed  at  an  early  hour,  while  the  larger 
ones  were  entertained  during  the  meet- 
ing hour  by  two  of  the  adults,  a  man 
and  a  woman,  in  rotation.  This  custom 
was  explained  to  Mr.  Scott  as  the  meet- 


THI-:  EVENING  MEETING. 


ing  hour  approached,  so  when  the 
whistle  sounded  again  at  eight  o'clock, 
he  went  to  the  Hall  with  Mr.  Pendell 
and  took  his  seat  with  the  rest. 

This  Hall  was  built  in  the  form  of  a 
pretty  little  theatre,  with  stage  and 
dressing-rooms,  proscenium  and  curtain, 
the  walls  and  ceiling  being  handsomely 
frescoed.  It  was  capable  of  seating 
three  or  four  hundred  persons  on  the 
floor,  while  a  deep  gallery  on  the  sides 
and  back  fully  doubled  its  capacity.  It 
was  well  lighted  by  lamps  hung  from 
the  front  of  the  gallery,  and  was  fur- 
nished with  a  piano  and  an  organ.  It 
was,  therefore,  well  adapted  for  con- 
certs and  amateur  theatricals,  as  well 
as  for  a  chapel  and  assembly-room. 
Numerous  small  hexagonal  tables,  with 
additional  lamps,  gave  opportunity  for 
the  women  to  sew  or  knit  during  the 
meeting  hour  if  they  felt  inclined,  and 
man)'  ot  them  did.  This  arrangement 
might  be  considered  in  bad  taste  at  a 
strictly  religious  meeting,  but  the  aim 
beinor  to  make  them  sociable  and  home*- 
like,    it    was    appropriate.      It    may   be 


68  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

remarked,  in  passing,  that  the  members 
always  spoke  of  the  society  as  "  the 
family."  They  all  considered  them- 
selves as  members  of  the  same  large 
household. 

When  all  were  seated  and  the  room 
quiet,  a  young  man  arose,  and,  plac- 
ing a  handful  of  newspapers  on  the 
front  of  the  stage,  proceeded  to  make  a 
condensed  report  of  the  news  of  the 
day,  gleaned  from  various  sources.  By 
practice  he  had  become  quite  expert  in 
selecting  the  pithy  points,  sometimes 
condensing  a  whole  article  into  a  few 
sentences  of  his  own,  aofain  reading 
some  important  matter  as  printed. 
Thus,  in  about  fifteen  minutes,  the 
whole  society  had  learned  all  that  was 
necessary  to  keep  them  well  informed. 
If  anyone  desired  to  go  more  into  detail, 
he  or  she  could  do  so  afterwards  by 
reading  the  papers  in  the  library,  but 
the  majority  found  this  report  sufficient, 
and  it  was  a  great  economy  of  time. 

Next,  a  young  woman,  advancing  to 
the  same  position  in  front  of  the  stage, 
stood  and  read  such  letters  as  had  been 


THIC  EVENING  MEETING.  69 

received  that  day  and  were  of  general 
interest.  A  number  of  these  were  from 
persons  who  wished  to  join  the  society. 
Others  were  from  members  absent  on 
business.  They  were  usually  spicy  and 
interesting.  Thus  another  quarter  of 
an  hour  was  passed,  after  which  the 
meeting  was  open  for  anyone  to  speak 
who  chose.  It  was  in  order,  after  the 
reading  of  the  correspondence,  to  speak 
briefly  of  any  business  matters  which 
needed  immediate  attention. 

On  this  evening  Uncle  Jonathan 
called  for  a  volunteer  to  milk  six  cows 
night  and  morning  for  a  few  weeks,  as 
one  of  the  farmers  who  had  this  duty 
assigned  him  was  not  well  and  needed 
rest.  Henry  Franklin,  a  powerfully- 
built  young  man,  immediately  volun- 
teered. 

"  That's  eood !  I  like  to  see  that 
prompt  and  willing  spirit  of  service  in 
our  young  men,"  was  Father  Temple's 
comment. 

11  I  do,"  said  Mr.  Gregory.  l4  It  shows 
that  they  are  growing  into  the  spirit 
which  built  up  this  society." 


70  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

"We  must  study  to  make  labor  at- 
tractive,'* added  Father  Temple.  "In 
a  true  system,  labor  is  not  degrading. 
It  is  healthful  and  ennobling.  We  must 
serve  one  another  in  the  spirit  of  love 
and  good-will." 

These  remarks  amply  repaid  Henry 
for  having  volunteered  to  milk,  and,  in 
fact,  made  others  wish  they  had  done 
so.  It  was  evident  that  in  this  little 
world  the  force  of  public  opinion  was 
great. 

Next  Aunt  Rebecca  asked  for  a 
"bee"  to  clean  up  the  lawns,  which  had 
become  somewhat  littered  by  parties  of 
visitors  who  had  brought  their  luncheon 
in  baskets  and  eaten  out-of-doors  under 
the  trees.  This  was  cordially  agreed 
to,  and  the  time  was  set  for  the  follow- 
ing evening,  after  which  the  chairman 
spoke  as  follows: 

"We  have  with  us  this  evening  Mr. 
Alexander  Scott,  who  has  come  to  make 
trial  of  our  life  for  a  year  on  probation. 
I  am  sure  that  all  will  welcome  him  and 
try  to  make  him  feel  at  home.  If  you 
have  anything  you  would  like  to  say  to 


THE  EVENING  MEETING.  71 

the    family,    Mr.    Scott,    we    would    be 
pleased  to  hear  you." 

Mr.  Scott  arose  and  said:  "I  thank 
you  for  your  kind  welcome.  Being  an 
entire  stranger  to  most  of  you,  and 
desiring  to  become  acquainted  with  all, 
I  will  frankly  state  my  feelings  and 
objects,  so  that  you  may  understand  me. 
I  have  for  several  years  been  deeply 
interested  in  social  questions,  seeing  the 
pressing  need  the  world  has  of  better 
ways  of  living.  But  I  did  not  find  any- 
thing practical  which  commended  itself 
to  my  judgment  until  I  came  across  some 
of  Mr.  Temple's  writings,  quite  by  ac- 
cident, in  Europe.  Since  then  I  have 
felt  a  growing  interest  in  your  society, 
which  culminated  in  my  asking  to  be 
received  as  a  probationary  member.  I 
trust  that  I  may  be  found  worthy  of 
your  fellowship  and  confidence.  I  con- 
sider the  work  you  have  undertaken  to 
be  of  the  highest  importance,  and  it  will 
be  my  desire  to  help  it  forward,  whether  I 
join  you  permanently  or  not.  I  have  much 
to  learn  about  your  system,  but  what  I 
have  seen  impresses  me  most  favorably. 


72  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

When  Mr.  Scott  sat  down,  Father 
Temple  spoke  as  follows:  "  I  have  been 
well  impressed  by  Mr.  Scott's  letters, 
and  by  his  remarks  this  evening.  Act- 
ing on  my  intuitions,  I  recommend 
that  he  be  taken  into  our  fellowship.  I 
am  always  glad  to  have  intelligent 
people  study  our  system.  We  have 
nothing  to  conceal,  but  are  living  for 
the  good  of  the  world  as  well  as  for 
ourselves." 

The  introduction  was  evidently  con- 
sidered complete,  for  the  chairman  at 
once  said: 

"  Some  of  the  young  people  have 
been  invited  to  entertain  us  with  a  little 
music  this  evening.  Will  their  manager 
please  come  forward  and  take  charge?" 

A  little  space  was  cleared  in  front  of 
the  piano,  and  the  concert  began.  It 
was  informal  and  enjoyable.  A  vocal 
quartette,  a  soprano  song  by  Miss 
Minette  Pendell;  a  trio  by  Miss  Lily 
Millington,  Miss  Emily  Floyd,  and  Mr. 
George  Stanley;  then  a  humorous  little 
recitation  by  Jennie  Lee,  and  two  num- 
bers for  violin  and  piano,  by  Mr.  Hugo 


THE  EVENING  MEETING. 


73 


Fairfax   with    Miss   Julia    Fordham  as 
accompanist,- made  up  the  programme. 

The  young  people  of  the  society  were 
enthusiasts  on  the  subject  of  music,  and 
although  their  advantages  had  been 
somewhat  limited,  they  were  really  very 
good  amateur  performers.  The  young 
men  had  formed  an  orchestra  of  twenty- 
five  pieces,  which  played  in  the  hall 
daily,  and  this  being  generally  known, 
the  hall  was  often  crowded  with  visitors. 
Evening  concerts  were  also  frequently 
given,  made  up  of  vocal,  as  well  as 
instrumental,  music. 

When  appearing  thus  before  their 
little  public,  the  young  women  still  wore 
the  short  dress.  Minette  and  Julia  were 
pictures  for  an  artist.  Attired  in  light 
muslin  robes,  the  only  adornment  being 
a  little  lace  at  the  wrists  and  throat, 
they  were  beautiful.  The  simplicity  of 
manner  of  all  the  girls  and  the  entire 
absence  of  affectation  clothed  them  with 
the  charm  of  vestal  virgins.  Added  to 
this,  their  beauty  of  face  and  of  form, 
and  the  real  ability  with  which  they 
sang  and  played,  made   them   adorable. 


74  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

Mr.  Scott,  notwithstanding  he  had 
travelled  and  had  seen  and  heard  much, 
was  both  surprised  and  charmed.  He 
had  not  expected  to  find  any  such  musi- 
cal or  artistic  culture  in  the  society. 
Father  Temple  took  an  evident  enjoy- 
ment in  the  music,  and  when  the  pro- 
gramme was  finished,  he  proposed  that 
they  conclude  by  all  singing  the  hymn 
of  the  society,  which  he  himself  had 
composed  at  the  time  when  they  were 
about  to  take  possession  of  their  present 
home.  Two  hundred  voices  joined  in 
rendering  the  following  stanzas: 

HYMN    OF   THE    PERFECT   LIFE. 
I. 

Let  us  go,  brothers,  go, 

To  the  Eden  of  heart-love, 
Where  the  fruits  of  life  grow, 

And  no  death  e'er  can  part  love. 
Where  the  pure  currents  flow 

From  all  gushing  hearts  together, 
And  the  wedding  of  the  Lamb 

Is  a  feast  of  joy  forever — ■ 
Let  us  go,  brothers,  go. 


THE  EVENING  MEETING.  W 


II. 

We  will  build  us  a  dome 

On  our  beautiful  plantation, 
And  we'll  all  have  one  homo 

And  one  family  relation. 
We  will  battle  with  the  wiles 

Of  the  dark  world  of  mammon, 
And  return  with  the  spoils 

To  the  home  of  our  dear  ones — 
Let  us  go,  brothers,  go. 

in. 

When  the  rude  winds  of  wrath 

Idly  rave  around  our  dwelling, 
And  the  slanderous  breath 

Like  the  simoon  is  swelling. 
Then  so  merrily  we'll  sing 

As  the  storm  blusters  o'er  us, 
Till  the  very  heavens  ring 

With  our  hearts'  joyful  chorus — 
Let  us  go,  brothers,  go. 

IV. 

Now  life's  sunshine  's  begun, 

And  the  spirit-flowers  are  blooming; 
And  the  feeling  that  we're  one. 

All  our  hearts  is  perfuming. 
Toward  one  home  let  us  all 

Set  our  faees  together, 
Where  true  love  shall  dwell 

In  peace  and  joy  forever — ■ 
Let  us  go,  brothers,  go. 


HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 


When  the  meeting  closed,  the  people 
did  not  all  disperse  at  once.  Many 
remained  to  chat  or  visit  together  in 
little  groups  of  two  or  three,  or  more. 
Mr.  Scott  heard  a  gentleman  sitting  just 
behind  him  invite  several  of  the  ladies 
to  walk  out  on  the  lawn  and  look  at  the 
stars.  They  assented,  and  that  partic- 
ular group  soon  disappeared.  In  a 
corner,  by  another  table,  an  enthusiastic 
young  artist  might  be  seen  showing  his 
latest  sketches  to  his  friends.  The 
stenographer  who  had  taken  notes  of 
the  meeting  sharpened  his  pencils 
afresh,  packed  up  his  things,  and  went 
away.  And  so  one  after  another  de- 
parted. 

Father  Temple  stepped  across  and 
shook  hands  cordially  with  Mr.  Scott, 
who  was  then  introduced  to  many  of 
the  other  members  as  they  came  for- 
ward. To  meet  thus  face  to  face  the 
worthies  he  had  thought  so  much  about 
was  a  great  pleasure.  He  clasped 
hands  with  Mr.  Dudley,  Mr.  Gregory, 
Mr.  Kinglake,  Mother  Temple,  Father 
Temple's  two  sisters  and  his  son  Morti- 


THE  EVENING  MEETING.  77 

mer,  Aunt  Millicent,  and  half  a  hundred 
others,  including  two  of  the  young 
ladies  who  had  taken  part  in  the  music 
of  the  evening,  Minette  and  Julia. 

Now  it  must  be  told  that  Mr.  Scott 
had  never  been  in  love.  Whether  it 
was  because  his  heart  had  not  been 
ripe  for  it,  or  because  the  fates  had  held 
him  back,  who  can  tell?  But  when  he 
first  saw  Julia  he  noticed  her  in  a  manner 
unusual  to  him.  She  seemed  so  sweet, 
so  free  from  artificial  ways,  so  womanly, 
and  so  genuine,  that  he  looked  at  her 
often.  And  when  he  was  introduced 
and  clasped  her  hand  he  felt  something 
wholly  new,  something  very  like  a  tiny 
electric  shock.  I  cannot  account  for 
this.  There  comes  a  time  in  every 
man's  life  when  such  things  happen, 
unless  his  soul  be  dead.  Mr.  Scott 
reflected  upon  it  for  a  long  time  after 
his  head  was  on  his  pillow  that  night. 
It  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  experi- 
ence. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MR.  SCOTT,  FINDS   EMPLOYMENT. 

Mr.  Scott  arose  early  the  next  morn- 
ine.  He  was  full  of  enthusiasm  for  the 
new  life,  and  was  eager  to  experience 
every  phase  of  it  as  promptly  as  cir- 
cumstances would  permit.  To  this  end 
he  must  in  someway  take  a  place  in  the 
industrial  organization.  Fortune  fa- 
vored him.  Thinking  he  would  enjoy 
the  cool,  clear  morning  air  by  taking  a 
turn  through  the  flower-gardens  before 
breakfast,  he  started  out,  but  had 
scarcely  turned  a  corner  of  the  dwell- 
ing, when  he  came  upon  two  of  the 
men  conversing.  As  he  passed  them, 
he  overheard  one  say  to  the  other. 

"  I  need  more  help  to  trim  the 
grapes." 

Help  was  needed,  and  he  wished  to 
begin  working.  Again  approaching 
the  two,  he  said: 

"  Pardon  me;  I   overheard   you    say 


MR.  SCOTT   KINDS    EMPLOYMENT.  79 

you  needed  help.  Could  I  not  be  of 
some  assistance  in  trimming  the  grape- 
vines?    I     know    nothing    about    the 

business,  but  presume  I  could  learn." 

44 You  can  be  of  great  service  just 
now,"  replied  the  elder  of  the  two,  who 
he  afterwards  learned  was  Uncle  Jona- 
than, and  whose  duty  it  was,  for  a  term, 
to  assign  the  men  to  such  industrial 
departments  as  called  most  loudly  for 
help.  "If  you  volunteer  for  the  season, 
I  will  ask  you  to  join  Brother  Percival 
here,  as  he  has  charge  of  the  vineyards. 
The  work  will  not  be  very  heavy,  but 
you  must  do  only  so  much  as  your 
strength  will  permit.  You  are  not  ac- 
customed to  labor,  and  should  begin 
very  gradually." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Mr.  Scott;  "  I 
will  report  to  my  new  officer  imme- 
diately after  breakfast,"  and  bowing  to 
Mr.  Percival,  he  continued  his  walk  to 
the  flower-garden. 

An  hour  later,  behold  Mr.  Sett  and 
Mr.  Percival   in  their  shirt-sl  ;  and 

with  broad-brimmed  straw-hats  on  their 
heads,  each  armed  with  a  pair  of  strong 


80  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

shears,  each  with  a  bunch  of  stout  twine 
looped  around  one  suspender,  industri- 
ously trimming  the  grape-vines.  In  the 
spring  and  early  summer,  especially 
when  the  season  is  wet,  the  vines  make 
too  rapid  a  growth,  unless  they  are 
sternly  cut  back.  Thousands  of  little, 
tender  shoots  and  suckers  spring  out, 
which  must  be  nipped  off  so  that  the 
juices  of  the  vine  may  go  to  develop 
and  mature  the  fruit;  and  the  shoots 
which  are  permitted  to  grow  must  be 
tied  to  the  trellis  securely,  so  that  the 
wind  may  not  break  them  off. 

Some  practice  is  necessary  in  order 
to  do  this  work  well,  and  Mr.  Scott 
required  to  be  shown  more  than  once 
how  to  select  for  growth  those  canes 
which  would  make  the  vine  most  sym- 
metrical and  let  in  the  sunlight  to  every 
part.  At  length,  however,  he  com- 
prehended the  art,  and  they  worked 
together  for  several  weeks,  Mr.  Percival 
on  one  side  of  the  trellis,  Mr.  Scott  on 
the  other.  During  this  time  they 
conversed  together  freely  and  became 
very  good  friends. 


MR.  SCOTT  FINDS  EMPLOYMENT.  81 

If  Father  Temple  had  himself  chosen 
a  work-fellow  for  a  newcomer,  he  could 
not  have  selected  a  better  one  than 
Edward  Percival.  He  was  a  thought- 
ful, scholarly  man,  and  had  lived  so 
many  years  in  the  society  that  he  was 
perfectly  familiar  with  its  history,  its 
principles,  and  with  the  lives  of  all  the 
members,  both  before  they  had  joined 
and  since.  He  was,  therefore,  able  to 
impart  much  valuable  information,  and 
to  make  many  useful  suggestions. 

One  Monday  morning,  when  they 
were  trimming  and  tying  up  the  vines 
as  usual,  neither  having  spoken  for  a 
little  time,  Mr.  Scott  broke  the  silence. 

"  In  last  evening's  meeting,"  he  said, 
"the  reader  gave  us  what  ho  called 
'The  Report  of  the  Business  Meeting,' 
and  I  was  much  interested  in  it.  But 
I  did  not  learn  when  and  where  the 
Business  Meeting  was  hold,  and  thought 
I  would  ask  you  to  explain  to  me  fully 
how  the  business  of  the  Society  is  man- 
aged. 1  shall  get  a  clearer  idea  of  it 
if  you  will  do  this  than  if  I  pick  up  the 
information  here  and  there." 


82  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

"  I  will  tell  you  about  it  with  pleas- 
ure," replied  Mr.  Percival.  "It  is  a 
system  peculiar  to  ourselves,  which  we 
have  grown  into  ;  but  it  works  very  well. 

"At  the  beginning  of  each  year  we 
hold  a  general  business  meeting  in  the 
Hall,  which  nearly  all  the  men,  and  as 
many  of  the  women  as  choose  to  do  so, 
attend.  At  this  meeting  the  profits  or 
losses  of  each  of  our  departments,  as 
well  as  the  general  balance  for  the  past 
year,  are  stated  ;  and  we  then  proceed 
to  map  out  the  business  for  the  coming 
year,  and  assign  individuals  to  the 
various  industries.  First,  the  general 
managers  are  named ;  one  to  have 
charge  of  the  Machine  Shops  and 
Foundry;  another,  the  Silk  Factory; 
a  third,  the  Fruit-Canning  Factory  ;  a 
fourth  to  be  Head  Farmer;  a  fifth, 
Steward ;  a  sixth  to  take  charge  of  the 
buildings  and  Grounds,  the  water-works 
and  drains,  and  so  on. 

11  As  these  managers  receive  no 
special  emoluments  of  any  kind,  while 
they  have  a  much  heavier  responsibility 
than  those  under  them,  there  is  no  wire- 


MR.   SCOTT    KINDS   EMPLOYMENT.  S3 

pulling  or  striving  for  positions.  We 
all  desire  to  get  the  best  possible  returns 
from  our  industries,  so  we  calmly  select 
the  most  capable  men  to  manage  them. 
Thus  such  appointments  are  expressions 
of  regard  and  confidence,  and  the  honor 
is  appreciated.  At  the  same  time  we 
think  more  or  less  rotation  in  office  is 
a  good  thing,  as  it  prevents  our  getting 
into  ruts,  and  enables  new  managers  to 
show  their  abilities." 

"  What  a  contrast  to  life  outside, 
where  every  one  strives  and  intrigues 
for  position  and  authority!"  exclaimed 
Mr.  Scott. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Percival  ;  "  by  remov- 
ing the  objects  forwhich  men  ordinarily 
strive  and  changing  the  motives  of  life 
wholly,  we  get  rid  of  much  evil.  But 
to  continue:  when  these  heads  of  de- 
partments are  nominated,  they  may 
decline  to  serve  for  any  good  reason", 
in  which  case  another  nomination  is 
made.  After  the  places  are  idled 
satisfactorily,  tin:  next  thing  done  in 
this  annual  business  meeting  is  to 
assign    all    the    men    to    suitable    posi- 


84  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

tions  under  the  managers  just  elected. 
In  this,  much  latitude  is  given  to 
individual  preferences.  Some  men 
prefer  to  work  outdoors,  as  we  are  now- 
doing  ;  others  choose  to  work  in  one  of 
the  factories.  Changes  are  quite  fre- 
quent ;  they  are  easily  made,  and  give 
needed  variety  to  prevent  labor  from 
becoming  irksome.  Some  of  the  young 
men  who  have  musical  and  artistic 
aspirations  dislike  to  do  heavy  manual 
labor,  as  it  would  stiffen  their  fingers 
and  antagonize  their  practice.  Take 
Hugo  Fairfax,  for  example;  he  is  am- 
bitious to  make  himself  a  good  violin 
player.  He  practices  hard,  and  is  mak- 
ing good  progress.  If  he  were  set  to 
work  digging  ditches  it  would  destroy 
his  fine  touch  and  discourage  him,  there- 
fore he  is  given  a  position  as  bookkeeper. 
Music  and  art  give  us  much  pleasure 
and  edification,  so  others  who  have  not 
these  gifts  are  quite  willing  to  do  the 
heavy  work." 

"  This  is  very  interesting,"  said  Mr. 
Scott.  "  The  world  needs  a  new  indus- 
trial system  which  will  satisfy  all  classes 


MR.   SCOTT    FINDS   EMPLOYMENT.  85 

ana  all  tastes.  But  is  all  the  business 
of  the  year  arranged  for  in  this  one 
meeting?  I  should  think  exigencies 
would  arise  calling  for  others;  or  is  it 
left  to  the  managers  of  departments  to 
carry  out  the  plans  then  mapped  out  ?" 

41  No,"  replied  Mr.  Percival  ;  "at  the 
annual  business  meeting  we  merely 
decide  on  a  general  business  policy, 
elect  the  managers  of  departments, 
assign  each  his  corps  of  workers,  and 
appoint  the  standing  committees  for 
the  year." 

"You  have  not  told  me  about  the 
committees,"  said  Mr.  Scott. 

"We  have  a  Finance  Committee,  an 
Educational  Committee,  a  Subsistence 
Committee,  a  Legal  Committee,  a 
Traveling  Committee,  and  some  others. 
The  Finance  Committee  has  general 
charge  of  our  finances,  assigns  a  certain 
amount  of  capital  to  each  productive 
department,  giving  most  to  those  de- 
partments which  earn  most,  and  ap- 
propriates what  it  deems  wise  to  the 
expense  departments,  such  as  subsist- 
ence,   laundry,    traveling  for  pleasure, 


36  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

etc.  The  Traveling  Committee  man- 
ages  the  sum  appropriated  for  pleasure 
traveling  so  that  each  member  who' 
desires  to  visit  his  relatives  or  go  else- 
where shall  have  a  fair  and  equitable 
share  of  it.  The  Legal  Committee 
looks  after  all  contracts,  transfers  of 
real  estate,  difficult  collections,  and  like 
matters,  one  principal  duty  being  to 
keep  us  out  of  lawsuits.  This  will  give 
you  an  idea  of  the  committees." 

"  Does  it  never  happen  that  persons 
are  dissatisfied  with  the  decisions  of  the 
committees?"  asked  Mr.  Scott.  "In 
the  matter  of  traveling,  for  example, 
suppose  a  member  asked  for  money  to 
make  a  journey  and  the  committee  did 
not  allow  it,  what  would  happen  then  ? " 

"  The  committee  would  have  nothing 
to  gain  or  lose  by  withholding  money 
in  such  a  case.  If  they  refused,  it 
would  be  because  the  fund  was  ex- 
hausted for  that  year,  or  because,  in 
their  opinion,  the  member  was  trying 
to  do  more  than  his  fair  share  of  the 
traveling.  In  either  case  public  opin- 
ion would  sustain  the  committee.     The 


MR.   SCOTT   FINDS   EMPLOYMENT.  s< 

next  year  a  new  committee  would  be 
appointed  and  a  new  appropriation 
made.  Then  the  member  could  try 
again." 

"  I  see.  And  as  no  one  could  have 
a  personal  motive  in  refusing  him,  the 
chances  are  that  justice  would  be  done." 

"  Exactly  so.  But  I  have  not  yet 
told  you  about  the  business  meeting  of 
which  you  heard  the  report  read  last 
evening.  In  addition  to  the  annual 
meeting  I  have  described,  we  hold  a 
meeting  every  Sunday  morning  at 
eleven  o'clock,  in  which  any  member  is 
at  liberty  to  bring  up  an)' subject,  make 
any  proposition,  or  ask  for  a  special 
appropriation  of  money  for  any  partic- 
ular purpose.  The  women  frequently 
ask  to  have  new  conveniences  provided, 
closets  enlarged,  walks  repaired,  more 
horses  and  carriages  for  their  use,  and 
things  of  that  sort.  If  they  carry  this 
too  far,  the  men  get  up  an  enthusiasm 
for  retrenchment  and  economy,  which 
counterbalances  it.  In  these  meetings 
a  woman's  vote  counts  for  as  much  as 
a  man's;  but  we  aim  at   securing  sub- 


88  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

stantial  unity  in  everything,  and  if  a 
large  minority  should  dissent  from  any 
proposed  action,  it  would  be  apt  to  be 
deferred  until  we  could  all  see  it  alike. 
I  do  not  remember  that  we  have  ever 
lost  anything  by  this  course,  but  I  do 
know  we  have  avoided  troubles  which 
we  would  have  rushed  into  if  we  had 
allowed  a  bare  majority  to  go  ahead." 

"That  is  certainly  anew  principle," 
said  Mr.  Scott.  "Substantial  unity 
must  be  a  very  good  rule  if  it  does  not 
give  a  chance  for  some  contrary  one  to 
try  to  have  his  way  by  opposing  the 
will  of  the  majority,  while  he  claimed 
that  no  action  should  be  taken  until  all 
were  agreed.  By  holding  out  he  could 
set  his  will  above  all  the  rest." 

"  We  prevent  that  in  this  way  :  a 
record  is  kept  of  all  the  transactions  in 
the  business  meetings,  and  this  is  read 
to  the  whole  family  in  the  Sunday 
evening  meeting.  Then  any  one  who 
was  not  at  the  business  meeting,  and 
who  thinks  a  mistake  has  been  made, 
has  an  opportunity  to  object  and  re- 
open the  matter.     A  vote  in  the  even- 


MR.  SCOTT   FINDS  EMPLOYMENT. 


89 


ing  meeting  would  either  confirm  or 
reverse  a  decision  of  the  business  meet- 
ing because  more  members  would  be 

^  •  i  •     1 

present.  Finally,  nothing  is  done  with- 
out Father  Temple's  sanction  and 
approval.  So  if  any  egotistical  obstruc- 
tionist should  arise,  public  attention 
would  be  called  to  him,  and  he  would 
soon    feel    an    inclination    to   sit   down 


ao*ain 


''How  did  you  happen  to  select 
Sunday  forenoon  for  these  meetings  ? " 

11  Because  we  are  then  at  leisure  to 
attend.  On  other  days  we  are  dis- 
persed to  our  several  duties." 

"  I  have  noticed  that  you  do  not  ob- 
serve Sunday  as  a  day  of  worship." 

14  No,  we  take  it  as  a  day  of  rest,  but 
do  not  have  any  legality  about  it.  We 
feel  it  our  duty  to  serve  God  every  day 
in  the  week,  and  we  cannot  do  more  on 
Sunday." 

"  That  is  quite  true,  but  the  Churches 
will  be  apt  to  find  fault  with  your  sys- 
tem in  that  respect." 

14  Undoubtedly;  the  Jews  found  fault 
with   our  Savior  because  He  did  things 


90  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

on  the  Sabbath  which  their  laws  did 
not  allow.  Christ  brought  in  a  new 
dispensation— that  of  grace  instead  of 
law.  He  pointed  out  clearly  that  to  do 
good  is  the  main  thing.  The  Churches 
are  prone  to  rely  on  forms  and  days, 
instead  of  on  grace  and  inspiration. 
That  is  why  they  do  not  progress  as 
they  should." 

"This  brings  us  naturally  to  the 
question  of  spiritual  and  social  leader- 
ship," said  Mr.  Scott.  "  Does  Father 
Temple  choose  his  assistants  in  these 
higher  departments,  or  are  they 
elected  ? " 

"  Men  and  women  grow  into  such 
positions  as  they  are  fitted  for,"  replied 
Mr.  Percival.  "  Certain  ones  of  our 
number  who  are  most  spiritually  minded 
naturally  have  most  influence.  They 
are  not  elected,  nor  are  they  appointed 
in  any  formal  way.  They  begin  to 
exercise  certain  functions  in  giving 
advice  and  administering  necessary  criti- 
cism, and  if  they  do  it  in  a  good  spirit, 
so  as  to  create  love  instead  of  ill-feeling, 
they  come  to  be  recognized  after  a  time 


MR.   SCOTT   FINDS   EMPLOYMENT.  91 

as  having  a  share  of  authority.  If,  on 
the  contrary,  they  should  exhibit  a  bad 
spirit,  their  authority  and  influence 
would  come  to  an  end." 

"And  I  suppose spiritual-mindedness 
is  a  thing  of  cultivation  and  growth,  is 
it  not?"  asked  Mr.  Scott. 

"  Just  so.  All  true  religious  experience 
is  progressive.  At  first,  in  childhood 
and  youth,  our  natural  appetites  and 
desires  rule  us,  but,  as  we  get  older  and 
are  converted,  little  by  little  the  spirit 
triumphs  over  the  flesh.  When  one 
arrives  at  a  point  in  his  experience 
where  he  no  longer  gives  way  to  temp- 
tations in  any  instance,  he  may  fairly 
claim  to  be  spiritually  minded.  We 
hope  that  every  member  of  our  Society 
is  progressing  in  this  way.  It  is  certain 
that  a  constant  struggle  is  going  on. 
Every  one  is,  or  should  be,  making  an 
earnest  effort  to  attain  to  that  state. 
Our  leaders  have:  much  to  do  in  helping 
those  who  are  weak  and  those  who 
stumble  or  fall.  Mother  Temple  is  like 
a  visiting  angel  to  those  who  get  into 
trouble.      She  has  a  gentle  disposition, 


92  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

and  encourages  and  comforts  every 
one.  Yet  she  is  a  very  earnest  wo- 
man." 

"  Yes;  I  have  spoken  with  her.  She 
seems  a  very  lovable  and  true-hearted 
woman.  By  the  way,  you  did  not  tell 
me  whether  the  women  of  the  Society 
have  a  business  organization  corre- 
sponding to  that  of  the  men  ?  Do  they 
also  elect  officers  and  appoint  each  one 
a  corps  of  assistants  ?" 

"  Their  organization  is  much  the 
same;  they  hold  meetings  of  their  own, 
elect  a  Stewardess,  a  Chief  House- 
keeper, a  Mother  of  the  Children's 
House,  a  Buyer,  and  so  on.  Women 
seem  to  like  frequent  changes  in  labor, 
so  they  appoint  two  of  the  young 
women  to  recast  their  duties  every 
week.  These  two  have  a  deal  of  run- 
ning about  to  consult  every  one  and  get 
her  consent  to  take  a  place  which  must 
be  filled." 

"  I  gather  from  your  statement  of  the 
business  organization  that  most  of  your 
practical  affairs  are  decided  by  the  vote 
of  the  members,  men  and  women  voting 


MR.   SCOTT   FINDS   EMPLOYMENT.  93 

alike.  This  is  more  democratic  than  I 
had  supposed." 

"That  is  true,"  said  Mr.  Percival. 
"  If  certain  individuals  have  more  influ- 
ence than  others,  it  is  because  they 
have  shown  their  good  judgment  and 
wisdom  in  a  way  to  win  the  confidence 
of  the  others  and  so  get  their  views 
adopted.  If  they  were  to  make  serious 
mistakes,  they  would  no  longer  be  fol- 
lowed.    We  go  by  the  results." 

Here  the  whistle  sounded  for  dinner, 
and  the  conversation  ended. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SOCIAL    FORCES. 

As  Mr.  Scott  became  more  settled  in 
his  new  home  he  was  much  impressed 
with  the  feeling  of  enthusiasm  which 
seemed  to  pervade  the  whole  society. 
Whatever  was  to  be  done,  whether  in 
work,  study  or  play,  was  gone  at  with 
a  vim,  a  will,  and  a  boundles  good- 
nature quite  surprising  in  people  who 
had  no  private  or  individual  gain  in 
view.  He  observed  that  this  trait  was 
common  to  all,  old  and  young,  men  and 
women,  and  he  did  not  at  first  under- 
stand its  cause.  It  was  merely  the 
result  of  living  in  such  a  large  family, 
where  each  member  had  so  many 
friends  and  acquaintances,  and  where 
each  strove  to  make  others  happy. 

There  is  a  natural  magnetic  attrac- 
tion  between  men  and  women  which  is, 
under  true  conditions,  as  certain  and 
constant  and  powerful  in  its  action  as 


SOCIAL   FORI  ES.  95 

that  of  the  electric  current  in  a  well- 
designed  motor  Its  influence  is  able 
to  transform  labor  into  play,  lighten 
hardship  and  suffering,  and  lead  one  to 
do  cheerfully  what  would,  without  it, 
be  very  irksome.  It  is  natural  to  every 
man  to  enjoy  the  companionship  of 
pleasant,  wholesome  women;  and  it  is 
natural  to  every  woman  to  enjoy  the 
companionship  of  pleasant,  wholesome 
men,  even  when  they  are  not  in  love 
with  each  other. 

In  ordinary  society,  where  each 
family  lives  by  itself,  this  feeling  can 
only  be  indulged  by  arranging  parties 
and  balls  at  which  people  may,  for  a 
little  time,  associate  with  others  than 
the  members  of  their  own  family.  At 
the  best  the)- can  get  only  a  slight  taste 
of  the  pleasure  there  is  in  such  wider 
association,  before  they  are  obliged  to 
return  to  their  old  isolated  routine. 

In  the  Society  of  the  Perf<  i  I  I  .ife,  all 
the  members  lived  in  the  enjoyment  of 
such  wide  association  as  their  habitual 
state,  and  it  was  largely  this  which  gave 
them  the  feelings   of   enthusiasm  and 


96  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

courage  which  so  impressed  Mr.  Scott. 
Here  everything  was  arranged  with  a 
view  to  making  the  natural  magnetic 
attraction  between  men  and  women 
work  for  good  ends.  Father  Temple 
planned  to  have  the  sexes  associate  as 
much  as  possible  in  labor,  in  recreation, 
and  in  studies.  The  men  helped  the 
women  in  the  in-door  work,  and  the 
women  helped  the  men  in  the  out-door 
work,  not  regularly  nor  all  the  day,  but 
in  "bees,"  and  in  such  ways  as  were 
attractive.  The  men  and  women,  the 
boys  and  girls,  mingled  freely  in  all  the 
activities  of  life — and  the  society  was 
large  enough  to  give  the  variety  of 
companionship  which  is  necessary  to 
the  highest  happiness.  Thus  the  feel- 
ings were  kept  always  fresh  and  strong, 
and  the  enthusiasm  was  boundless. 

In  a  word,  every  member  of  the 
society  was  in  a  state  of  perpetual 
courtship;  not  a  courtship  of  one  man 
and  one  woman,  but  of  a  hundred  men 
and  a  hundred  women,  each  giving 
such  attention  to  all  the  others  as 
circumstances  drew  forth.     The  beauty 


social  FORCES.  97 

of  it  was  that  there  were  no  reactions. 
The  enthusiasm,  the  courtship,  and  the 
general  love  kept  up.  This  made  it 
possible  for  the  members  to  submit  to 
necessary  regulations  and  to  discipline 
which  sometimes  cut  severely  into  the 
natural  man.  Next  to  the  religious 
afflatus,  it  was  the  bond  which  held  the 
society  together. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  society,  when 
they  had  no  hired  help,  but  did  all  their 
own  work,  including  even  the  most 
menial  service,  it  was  the  custom  to 
introduce  a  spice  of  chance  in  the 
organizing.  Printed  cards  bearing  the 
names  of  all  the  men  were  put  in  one 
box,  blank  side  up,  and  the  names  of 
all  the  women  in  another  box,  then  a 
man  and  a  woman  drew  out  these 
names  haphazard,  while  a  secretary 
wrote  them  down.  The  washing,  hang- 
ing out  clothes,  waiting  at  table,  wash- 
ing dishes,  sotting  tin-  tables  in  the 
dining-room,  and  other  such  duties. 
were  provided  for  in  this  unique  way. 
A  list  was  made  out  and  read  in  the 
Sunday   evening   meeting.       It   will   !<<• 


98  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

seen  that  the  men  and  women  were 
drawn  in  couples,  by  chance,  for  doing 
these  duties  together  for  the  space  of  a 
week.  Those  whose  names  were  drawn 
for  washing  the  clothes  were  called  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  so  as  to 
get  a  good  start.  They  worked  until 
seven  o'clock,  when  the  couples  ate 
breakfast  together,  and  were  then  re- 
lieved by  another  set  of  workers,  who 
finished  early  in  the  afternoon.  It  was 
surprising  how  the  huge  wash  was  thus 
disposed  of  by  a  unitary  effort  in  which 
both  sexes  engaged.  The  magnetic 
feeling  we  have  described  helped  in 
all  such  ways. 

It  will  be  readily  admitted  that  while 
no  one  might  really  enjoy  being  called 
at  four  o'clock  for  such  service,  yet  to 
have  a  sweet  woman  for  a  partner,  and 
perhaps  one  whom  you  had  not  previ- 
ously known  well,  to  have  her  pin  on 
your  apron,  to  chat  with  her,  to  help 
her  by  giving  her  all  the  easy  pieces, 
and,  finally,  to  take  her  in  to  breakfast 
in  a  perfectly  familiar,  friendly  way,  was 
a  miti^atin^  circumstance  which  went 


SoCIAI.    FORI    I  99 

far  to  reconcile  one  to  stern,  unavoid- 
able duty-doing.  That  much  may  cer- 
tainly be  claimed  for  the  system. 

Some  part  of  this  old  custom  was  yet 
retained  at  the  period  when  Mr.  Scott 
joined  the  society,  although  the  washing 
was  now  done  by  a  regular  laundry 
force,  aided  by  improved  machinery. 
Names  of  men  were  still  drawn  for 
milking  the  cows,  the  term  of  service 
being  six  months ;  and  it  happened  that 
one  Sunday  evening,  at  the  time  of 
which  we  are  writing,  the  reader  an- 
nounced in  evening  meeting  the  names 
of  Philander  Koote  and  George  Stanley 
to  milk,  as  successors  to  Mr.  Kinglake 
and  Arthur  Dudley,  whose  term  had 
expired.  It  was  etiquette  to  accept  all 
such  appointments  cheerfully,  but  on 
this  occasion  Philander  Kootespoke  up 
as  d  >11<  >ws: 

"   I      Would      like     to      l»e      eXCUSed     f  p  >m 

taking  my  turn  in  the  milking.     Th< 
who  milk  have  to   rise  at  five  o'clock 
every   morning,  and    I    find  that   such 
earlv    rising    injures    the    flow    of    my 
inspiration,   so   that  I  am  not  aide  to 


100  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

write  for  our  paper  as  forcibly  as  I  other 
wise  would.  It  seems  to  me  that  our 
young  men  should  have  a  spirit  of 
service  such  as  would  make  them  ready 
to  volunteer  to  do  all  the  milking.  I 
was  very  much  pleased  with  Henry 
Franklin's  spirit  about  milking  when 
he  volunteered  some  time  ago.  Per- 
haps some  other  young  man  will  now 
volunteer  to  take  my  place." 

There  was  silence.  No  one  volun- 
teered. The  sad  truth  was  that  Phi- 
lander was  an  extremely  lazy  man,  and 
everybody  knew  it.  In  this  particular 
he  was  in  a  class  by  himself.  He  was 
large  of  frame,  strong  as  a  moose,  but 
wofully  lacking  in  energy.  When  he 
walked,  he  dragged  his  long  limbs  after 
him  in  a  weary  way,  and  as  he  wore 
enormous,  square-toed  boots,  built  on 
a  reform  last  of  his  own  devising,  the 
effect  was  quite  distressing.  Mr. 
Koote's  indolence  had  been  a  sore  trial 
to  the  Society,  so  dependent  was  it  on 
the  industry  of  its  members.  His 
example  was  exceedingly  bad,  and  the 
young  men  had  more  than  once  been 


Social  FORCES.  1°1 

on  the  point  of  open  rebellion  at  his 
shirking  ways.     They  would  probably 

have  put  up  with  it  patiently  enough 
as  an  infirmity  of  disposition,  but  un- 
fortunately, Mr.  Koote  was  ambitious 
of  spiritual  influence  and  authority  in 
the  little  church.  His  pretentions  to 
high  spiritual  attainments  made  it  very 
hard  to  endure  his  laziness. 

So  now  no  one  volunteered  to  take 
his  place  in  the  milking.  The  silence 
became  embarrassing. 

Several  of  the  young  men  might 
have  been  seen  to  smile  George  Stan- 
ley even  winked  at  Henry  Franklin. 
Evidently  they  enjoyed  the  situation 
and  were  going  to  stand  out. 

Suddenly  Mr.  Millington  volunteered. 
He  was  a  man  beyond  middle  life,  and 
his  action  was  in  effect  a  rebuke  to  the 
young  men.  They  evidently  felt  it  to 
be  so,  for  Henry  Franklin  now  spoke 
up  : 

"  I    guess   there   would    have    b< 
plenty  of  volunteers  if  we  had  not  been 
puzzling  over   what    Mr.    Koote   said 
about  his  inspiration  b  :ing  impaired  by 


102  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

milking.  We  young  men  are  all  ambi- 
tious of  becoming  inspired,  and  if  milk- 
ing stops  it  in  Mr.  Koote,  it  would  be 
apt  to  delay  it  in  us,  so  we  hesitate. 
If  that  is  a  fact,  which  Mr.  Koote 
alleges,  it  follows  that  we  must  either 
go  without  milk,  or  always  keep  a 
certain  uninspired  set  to  get  up  in  the 
morning  and  do  the  chores." 

There  was  logic  in  this,  and  poor 
Philander  began  to  get  very  red  in  the 
face.  What  could  be  done  if  the 
young  people  were  going  to  openly 
scoff  at  his  claims  to  inspiration  in  this 
way?  He  felt  that  the  situation  was 
serious.  Hard  labor  stared  him  in  the 
face.      But  Father  Temple  spoke  : 

"We  should  all  cultivate  a  love  of 
service.  Sometimes  men  who  work  hard 
every  day  are  lazy  in  spirit.  They  labor 
because  they  must,  but  dislike  to  do  it, 
and  would  be  very  glad  if  they  could 
shift  their  burden  upon  others  and  lead 
a  life  of  ease  and  indolence  them- 
selves. But  inaction  is  not  always  rest. 
Sometimes  intense  activity  relieves  us. 
A   young  man  who   has  been  hoeing 


SOCIAL    FOR*  BS.  108 

corn  all  day  under  a  hot  sun  will  take  a 
lone-  walk  with  the  girls  in  the  evening 

rather  than  lie  down  to  rest.  Notice 
the  boys  ;  be  they  ever  so  tired,  they 
will  start  off  on  a  run  to  dig  bait  and 
go  fishing!  So  exertion  is  rest  when 
our  heart  is  in  it,  and  if  we  can  once 
realize  how  much  good  we  are  doing  to 
others  by  such  service  as  milking,  it 
will  not  seem  irksome.  It  all  depends 
on  what  is  our  object  in  life,  and  the 
way  we  look  at  things." 

Then  Robert  Dunton  spoke:  "  I  will 
ask  Mr.  Millington's  permission  to 
volunteer  in  his  stead,  being  a  your,. 
and  stronger  man.  Putting  it  as 
Father  Temple  does,  I  shall  be  glad  to 
milk,  but  I  did  not  see  exactly  how  I 
could  do  it  on  Mr.  Koote'splan.  lean 
see  the  justice  of  what  Father  Temple 
says  about  laziness." 

Father  Temple:  "The  best  way  to 
treat  a  lazy  person  will  be  to  drop  him 
out  of  the  industrial  organization.  Let 
him  go  entirely  free  without  doing  any- 
thing, and,  my  word  for  it,  he  will  tire 
of  it  before  you  will,  even  though  you 


104  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

should  have  to  do  his  share  in  the 
meantime.  We  all  respect  those  who 
have  willing  hearts  and  hands,  but  not 
the  indolent.  Still,  we  must  remember 
that  brain  labor  counts  as  well  as  manual 
labor.  If  a  man  can  write  well,  he  may 
be  doing  more  good  than  another  who 
works  hard  with  his  hands." 

Here  the  clock  struck  nine,  and  the 
meeting  closed.  Mr.  Scott  had  been 
greatly  interested  in  the  incident  we 
have  described.  It  revealed  to  him  an 
entirely  new  way  of  treating  faults  of 
character.  Instead  of  hastening  to 
make  such  rules  as  would  compel  a  lazy 
member  to  work,  Father  Temple  aimed 
to  correct  the  disposition,  or  tone  up 
the  spirit,  so  that  the  person  would  go 
to  work  cheerfully  and  of  his  own  free 
will.  It  was  governing  by  grace  and 
love,  instead  of  by  legality.  Mr.  Scott 
could  not  help  wondering,  however, 
whether  such  mild  treatment  would 
effect  a  cure  in  an  individual  so  self- 
complacent  as  Mr.  Koote  appeared  to 
be.  It  will  be  seen,  later,  that  sterner 
treatment  did  become  necessary,  and 
was  faithfully  applied. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A    MODEL    EXCURSION. 

One  evening  in  the  latter  part  of 
June,  the  chairman  of  the  meeting  an- 
nounced that  a  large  excursion  party 
from  a  city  lying  to  the  north  was 
coming  on  the  morrow  to  visit  the 
society.  It  was  an  influential  church 
organization,  with  main-  of  their  out- 
side friends.  The  pastor  wrote  that 
nearly  a  thousand  tickets  had  already 
been  sold  for  the  special  trains,  and 
that  undoubtedly  the  final  number 
would  be  much  larger.  Nearly  half 
of  them  wished  dinner  served  on  their 
arrival.  The  rest  would  bring  bask  I 
and  would  picnic  on  the  grounds. 

Such  excursions  to  the  society  w< 
of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  summer 
time.       A    railway    which    ran    through 
their  land  had  a  convenient  station  just 
in  the  rear  of  the  dwellinj         Visit 
by  train  could  therefore         ht  on  the 


106  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

grounds  of  the  society,  and  as  these 
were  extensive  enough  to  accommodate 
an  unlimited  number  and  were  well 
shaded,  it  was  a  favorite  resort. 

To  furnish  food  and  entertainment  to 
so  large  a  party  involved  much  labor. 
Nearly  every  member  was  drafted  into 
the  service,  a  list  of  appointments  being 
read  in  the  evening  meeting.  The  men 
and  women  were  paired  off  in  all  this 
labor,  according  to  their  custom.  The 
force  assigned  to  the  duty  of  serving 
ice  cream  and  other  light  refreshments 
to  the  excursionists,  included  the  follow- 
ing names: 

George  Stanley,  Mr.  Scott,  Robert 
Dunton,  Mrs.  Gregory,  Julia  Fordham, 
and  Lily  Millington. 

Mr.  Scott  was  pleased  to  hear  his 
name  included  with  the  others.  It  was 
the  first  time  it  had  been  done,  and  it 
seemed  to  him  to  indicate  a  feeling  of 
growing  confidence.  He  was  also 
pleased  to  hear  Julia's  name  read  in  con- 
nection with  his  own,  but  was  puzzled  to 
account  for  it.  Was  it  a  lucky  turn  of 
chance  or  a  friendly  Providence  ?  or  had 


A   MODEL   EXCURSION.  107 

he  in  sonic  unguarded  moment,  by  act 
or  look,  betrayed  the  interest  he  felt  in 
her?  He  had  intended  to  keep  his 
secret  most  carefully,  as  he  was  only  a 
probationary  member  and  was  very 
doubtful  how  his  attentions  might  be 
received.  But,  however  the  arrange- 
ment might  have  come  about,  he  re- 
solved  to  make  the  most  of  his  oppor- 
tunities, in  the  way  of  getting  better 
acquainted  with  her.  He  had  not  yet 
spoken  to  her,  except  when  they  were 
first  introduced  in  the  Hall,  but  he  had 
seen  her  almost  daily,  and  with  increas- 
ing interest. 

The  next  morning  every  one  was 
astir  bright  and  early.  All  signs  pointed 
to  a  perfect  day,  and  these  people  knew 
by  experience  that  other  parties  than 
the  one  announced  were  likely  to  arrive. 
So  large  preparations  must  be  made. 
Many  bushels  of  strawberries  and  green 
peas  must  be  picked,  and  a  general 
44  bee  "  had  been  called  to  do  this  before 
breakfast. 

Mr.  Scott  arose  at  five  o'clock,  and 
after  a  hasty  toilet  started  oil  for  the 


108  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

strawberry  field.  He  had  not  gone  far 
when  he  overtook  two  of  the  girls, 
Julia  and  Lily,  who  were  also  on  their 
way  to  the  field.  Here  was  another 
friendly  coincidence.  Fortune  was 
evidently  determined  to  favor  him  that 
day.  Why  not  pick  strawberries  with 
Julia  and  so  prepare  himself  for  serving- 
ice  cream  with  her  ?  Coining  up  with 
the  girls  he  said: 

"  Good-morning,  ladies;  I  suppose 
you  are,  like  myself,  marching  to  the 
field  of  battle.  Shall  we  travel  the  rest 
of  the  way  together?" 

"  With  pleasure,"  replied  Julia.  Then 
she  asked:  "Have  you  attended  any  of 
our  strawberry  bees?" 

"No,"  he  said,  "I  have  not,  and  I 
fear  I  may  not  be  of  much  service  now. 
I  have  not  picked  strawberries  since  I 
was  a  little  boy  and  used  to  hunt  for 
wild  ones  to  fill  a  tin  cup  I  carried. 
That  was  a  long  time  ago." 

"You  will  find  this  quite  different," 
said  Lily.  "  If  you  are  not  used  to  it  I 
guess  it  will  make  your  back  ache." 

"  I    shall    not  mind    if   it  does,"  he 


A    MODEL   EXCURSION  109 

replied.  "Working  in  such  pleasant 
company  will  overcome  any  little  diffi- 
duties. 

41  I  am  not  so  sure  of  that,"  said  Julia, 
laughing.  "  Wait  until  you  have  tried 
it;  then  you  may  think  differently." 

With  this  they  arrived  at  the  berry- 
field,  where  an  attendant  furnished  them 
baskets  and  directed  them  where  to 
commence.  The  beds  of  vines  were 
separated  by  narrow  walks  which  were 
well  mulched  with  clean  straw,  and  were 
just  wide  enough  for  two  persons,  work- 
ing opposite  each  other,  to  pick  across 
comfortably. 

The  vines  were  loaded  with  luscious, 
ripe  fruit.  A  quart  or  two  could  fre- 
quently he  picked  without  moving  from 
one's  position,  and  some  of  the  boys 
and  girls  who  were  very  active  some- 
times picked  as  many  as  a  hundred 
quarts  each  in  a  day.  With  such  a 
yield  it  did  not  take  a  very  long  time 
to  procure  all  that  were  needed.  Mr. 
Scott  conversed  quietly  with  Julia,  and' 
became  more  and  more-  what  shall  I 
say? — charmed,  every  minute.      1  le  said 


110  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

to  himself  that  a  woman  who  was  so 
wholly  attractive  and  lovable  when 
dressed  plainly  in  calico,  working  in 
the  bright  sun,  without  a  single  illusion 
or  artificial  aid,  who  was  so  gentle  and 
cheerful  and  altogether  sweet,  was 
worthy  of  any  man's  admiration  and 
love.  He  felt  his  heart  go  out  to  her, 
and  he  determined  to  try  to  win  her 
love  in  return.  He  could  hardly  realize 
that  an  hour  had  passed  when  it  was 
announced  that  the  "bee"  was  over, 
and  everyone  rose  to  return. 

It  was  nearly  noon  when  the  special 
train,  which  was  run  in  two  sections, 
each  drawn  by  two  locomotives,  rolled 
into  the  station,  one  section  after  the 
other,  and  emptied  its  unusual  load. 
The  conductors  stated  that  they  had 
brought,  in  all,  fifteen  hundred  passen- 
gers. Many  of  these  people  had  visited 
the  Society  before,  and  having  their 
favorite  retreats  under  the  trees,  now 
made  haste  to  occupy  them.  The  picnic 
parties  opened  their  baskets  and  spread 
out  goodly  arrays  of  eatables.  A  large 
swine  at  the  north  side  of  the  lawn  was 


A   MODEL   EXCURSION.  Ill 

put  to  immediate  service.     The  croquet 

grounds  and  tennis  courts  were  also 
filled  with  players,  eager  to  enjoy  them- 
selves. Those  men  who  had  bespoken 
dinner  now  went  to  the  office  to  buy  their 

tickets,  while  their  ladies  made  them- 
selves smart  after  their  ride  on  the  train. 
One  stalwart  young  man,  whose 
appearance  would  indicate  that  he  was 
a  tiller  of  the  soil,  seemed  to  have  some 
misgivings  about  buying  his  tickets. 
He  had  just  read  a  notice  which  was 
posted  conspicuously  beside  the  cash- 
ier's window,  to  the  effect  that  neither 
tea,  coffee,  nor  meat  of  any  kind  would 
be  served  at  meals,  but  that  an  abun- 
dance of  good  vegetables  and  fruits 
could  be  depended  upon.  The  price 
of  the  tickets  was  one  dollar  each.  T<  i 
pay  two  dollars  merely  to  dine  himself 
and  his  girl  seemed  to  him  a  serious 
matter. 

_"  No  tea,  coffee,  nor  no  meat,"  he 
said  as  he  advanced  to  the  window. 
"What  do  you  have  that  is  filling?  It 
can't  be  you  charge  a  dollar  just  for 
vegetables  ? " 


112  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

"  Buy  your  tickets,  eat  your  dinner, 
and  if  you  are  not  entirely  satisfied 
come  back  here  and  I  will  refund  your 
money,"  said  the  cashier. 

As  the  young  giant  was  already 
experiencing  the  pangs  of  hunger,  and 
those  on  the  line  behind  him  began  to 
grumble  at  the  delay  he  was  causing, 
this  assurance  decided  him  and  he 
bought  the  tickets. 

About  two  hours  afterwards  he  re- 
appeared in  the  office,  his  countenance 
suffused  to  almost  a  purple  hue,  radiant 
with  smiles  and  laughter.  Thrusting 
out  a  large  hand  to  be  shaken  by  the 
cashier,  he  shouted : 

"  My  friend,  that  was  the  best  dinner 
I  ever  ate  in  my  life !  Keep  the  two 
dollars ;  you  are  welcome  to  them. 
You  didn't  make  a  cent  on  me,  not  a 
red  cent,  by  George  ! "  and  with  that 
he  smote  his  huge  thigh  with  his  right 
hand  so  that  it  cracked  like  a  pistol, 
and  strolled  out  upon  the  grounds, 
happy  and  contented. 

To  eat  a  dinner  at  the  Society  was 
an  event  to  be  remembered.     It  is  true. 


A   MODEL  EXCURSION.  113 

they    served     neither    tea,    coffee,    nor 
meat   at   the   period   of   which   we    are 
writing,  but,  once  seated  at  the  table, 
the    absence    of    these   was    forgotten. 
The  potatoes   warmed  in  fresh,  sweet 
cream    delicately    seasoned,    the    peas, 
tomatoes,  and   nearly    every  vegetable 
at  its  best,  the  omelettes  made  as  only 
Aunt  Margaret    could   make   them,  the 
excellent    home-made    bread    of   which 
visitors    could   never  eat    enough,    the 
strawberries  and  cream,  the   ice-cream, 
cakes,    lemonade    and    chocolate,    and, 
last  but  best  of  all,  the  wonderful  straw- 
berry   shortcakes,    left    nothing    to    be 
desired.      The  peculiar  charm  of  these 
dinners  was  in   their  delicacy  and   fine 
quality.       The    fruits     and     vegetables 
were  brought  in   fresh   from  the  vin< 
the    cream   and  butter    fresh    from  the 
dairy;    and    the  cooking   itself   was 
delicate  that  the  exquisite  flavor  of  the 
dishes   was   a   revelation   to    those   city 
people  who  were  forced  to  buy  all  their 
fruits  and  vegetables  in  a   more  or  less 
wilted   condition.      The   difference  was 
like  that  which  one  experiences  between 


114  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

eating  a  trout  which  has  been  exposed 
in  a  city  market  after  a  long  journey  by 
rail,  and  one  which  has  just  been  pulled 
from  a  cool  mountain  brook  ;  or  like 
the  difference  between  oysters  eaten  in 
Baltimore  and  in  Kansas. 

After  nearly  five  hundred  people  had 
eaten  one  of  these  memorable  dinners, 
a  concert  was  given  in  the  Hall.  No 
charge  was  made  for  the  concerts,  nor 
for  the  use  of  the  grounds,  but  only  for 
meals  and  refreshments.  The  orchestra 
played  several  pieces ;  there  were  songs, 
and  a  very  pleasing  little  pantomime 
performed  by  the  children  in  costume 
on  the  stage.  The  pressure  for  admis- 
sion was  so  great  that  after  the  pro- 
gramme had  been  gone  through,  the 
Hall  was  cleared  and  filled  again  by  an 
entirely  fresh  audience,  when  the  con- 
cert was  repeated. 

Meantime  the  visitors  had  been  avail- 
ing themselves  of  opportunities  to  get 
information  which  would  be  useful  to 
them.  Farmers  went  in  groups  to  look 
at  the  barns  and  the  improved  breeds 
of  cattle  and  sheep  which  the  Society 


A   MODEL   EXCURSION.  115 

kept.  Often  purchases  were  made  of 
animals  for  breeding.  Those  interested 
in  fruit-growing  wandered  through  the 
orchards  and  vineyards,  making  inquirie  ; 

as  to  the  best  varieties  and  noting 
methods  of  cultivation.  The  women 
spent  much  time:  in  the  flower-gardens, 
and  did  not  neglect  a  visit  to  the  kitchen 
to  get  certain  recipes  for  cooking. 
Several  large  omnibuses  were  kept  ply- 
ing between  the  dwelling  and  the  silk 
factor)-,  carrying  loads  of  the  visitors 
who  were  curious  to  see  how  silks  an- 
made.  In  like  manner  the  fruit-canning 
establishment  was  constantly  overrun 
by  people  interested  in  witnessing  the 
processes. 

When  at  length  the  hour  for  the 
departure  of  the  excursion  trains  drew 
near,  and  all  were  assembling  at  the 
station,  many  of  the  members  went  out 
to  bid  them  good-bye.  It  had  been 
a  most  enjoyable  daw  Nothing  had 
occurred  to  mar  their  pleasure,  and  every- 
one seemed  to  be  in  happy  mood.  Mr. 
Scott  and  his  little  corps  of  workers  went 
out  with  the  others  to  .    I       \  the  start. 


116  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

Father  Temple  always  took  a  great 
interest  in  such  events,  and  he  was  now 
standing  on  a  grassy  knoll  overlooking 
the  station  and  the  trains,  when  the 
pastor  of  the  visiting  Church,  accom- 
panied by  several  ladies,  approached 
him. 

"  Father  Temple,"  said  the  pastor  as 
he  took  his  hand,  "we  want  to  tell  you 
how  much  we  enjoy  coining  here.  We 
have  had  a  peaceful,  happy  day  of  pure 
enjoyment.  There  has  been  no  drunk- 
enness, no  gambling,  no  fighting,  such 
as  occur  at  almost  every  other  holiday 
resort.  The  ladies  appreciate  this  free- 
dom from  revolting  sights,  and  in  the 
name  of  my  people  I  thank  you  for 
your  hospitality." 

It  happened  that  Father  Temple  was 
suffering  from  a  sore  throat,  so  he 
excused  himself  from  speaking,  merely 
acknowledging  the  friendly  expressions 
of  the  other. 

"You  do  not  need  to  speak,"  said 
the  worthy  pastor.  "  Your  works  speak 
for  you." 

Mr.  Scott  heard  these  remarks,  and 


A  MODEL  EXCURSION.  117 

could  not  help  wishing  that  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Langford  had  heard  them  too. 

But  what  of  our  friend  Scott?  1  low- 
had  he  passed  the  day  ?  He  had  expe- 
rienced something  quite  unexpected. 
Engaging  in  Ids  duties  with  the  great 
enthusiasm,  full  of  admiration  of  Julia, 
it  was  not  long  before  he  discovered 
that  George  Stanley  also  felt  a  very 
tender  regard  for  her.  He  detected 
George  in  various  little  acts  and  looks 
of  gallantry,  and  the  way  Julia  treat* -d 
him  led  him  to  believe  that  the  relation 
between  the  two  was  tolerably  well- 
established.  This  gave  him  quite  a 
shock,  but  he  had  sufficient  control  of 
himself  to  conceal  his  feeling  .  He 
became  more  sober  and  reserved,  how- 
ever, in  spite  of  hiins<-lf,  and  Julia,  with 
a  woman's  quick  sense,  noticed  this. 
She  thereupon  took  pains  to  chat  with 
him,  and  finally  succeeded  in  thawing 
him  out  again.  She  was  his  partner 
for  the  day,  so  it  would  have  been 
wrong  to  neglect  him.  Perhaps  she 
had  a  deeper  motive.  Was  she  becom- 
ing aware  of  Mr.  Scott's  state  of  h 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    TOBACCO    PRINCIPALITY. 

Mr.  Scott  was  a  man  of  unexception- 
able habits  as  the  world  goes,  yet  he 
soon  found  that  he  could  not  enter  a 
society  like  this  of  the  Perfect  Life 
without  under£oinof  some  inward  struor- 
gles.  The  first  trial  he  encountered 
was  in  regard  to  tobacco.  He  was  a 
confirmed  smoker,  and  had  laid  in 
several  boxes  of  his  favorite  brand  of 
cigars  before  starting  for  the  Society. 
On  arriving,  he  had  found  that  none  of 
the  members  used  tobacco  in  any  form. 
He  scarcely  knew  what  to  do  with  his 
dears,  but  concluded  to  smoke  them 
up  in  a  quiet  way  without  making  them 
conspicuous  or  offensive,  and  resolved 
that  when  they  were  gone  he  would 
make  an  heroic  effort  to  break  off  the 
habit. 

Only  a  few  cigars  now  remained. 
He  used  them  more  and  more  sparingly 


THE    I  I  >BACC<  '   PRINCIPAL]  I  Y 


119 


until,  at  length,  he  deliberately  smoked 
the  last  one  and  threw  aside  the  empty 
box.  Then  came  the  abstinence,  the 
craving,  the  gnawings  of  the  appetite, 
which  every  smoker  who  has  ever  tried 
to  break  <>lf  will  understand.  The 
struggle  actually  made  him  feverish  and 
ill.  One  evening  when  he  felt  particu- 
larly low-spirited  from  this  cause,  he 
wandered  out  on  the  lawn,  seeking  a 
secluded  nook.  Ashe  picked  his  way 
through  a  clump  of  shrubbery  he  came 
suddenly  upon  Father  Temple  seated 
alone,  and  would  have  retreated  ;  but 
the  leader  asked  him  to  sit  down,  say- 
ing he  wished  to  speak  with  him. 

"  1 1  has  seemed  to  me  that  you 
unhappy  of  late,"  he  said.  "If  I  can 
be  oi  any  service  to  you  in  the  way  of 
counsel,  or  in  removing  any  difficulties 
you  may  have  encountered  in  your 
experience  here,  I  shall  be  glad  to  help 

\ ( >u." 

"  I    sin  >uld    be    pleased    t<  >    bea >me 

better  acquainted  with  you/' said   Mr. 

iting  himself,    "but    I    ought 

not  to   put  any  of  my  troubles  upon 


120  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

you  who  have  so  many  cares  and 
responsibilities.  My  main  difficulty 
just  at  present  may  seem  to  you  a 
laughable  one,  caused  by  my  trying  to 
leave  off  the  use  of  tobacco.  I  have 
smoked  considerably  for  many  years, 
and  the  habit  has  obtained  a  firmer 
hold  upon  me  than  I  supposed.  I 
would  not  have  believed  it  could  be  so 
difficult  to  leave  off.  I  smoked  my 
last  cigar  some  days  ago,  and  have 
been  having  serious  times  ever  since." 

"I  have  been  through  that  experi- 
ence myself,"  said  Father  Temple, 
smiling,  "and  know  just  how  dreadful 
it  is.  I  very  well  remember  once  mak- 
ing a  great  resolution  to  leave  off  chew- 
ing, and  I  threw  away  a  half-used  plug 
of  tobacco  into  the  grass  where  I  was 
sitting.  After  a  time  the  craving  for 
it  became  so  severe  that  I  went  back  to 
try  and  find  it  but  could  not." 

At  this  both  men  laughed  heartily. 

"  I  am  suffering  from  that  terrible 
craving  for  a  cigar,"  said  Mr.  Scott. 
"  How  did  you  finally  overcome  it  ? " 

"  I  could  not  fully  break  up  the  habit 


THE  TOHACCO   PRINCIPALITY.  1-21 

until  after  we  assembled  here.  Nearly 
all  our  men  used  tobacco  in  some  form. 
It  was  our  custom  to  buy  a  large  can 
of  fine-cut  and  keep  it  in  the  kitchen, 
so  that  everyone  of  us  could  g0  and  fill 
his  box  daily.  But  we  came  to  see 
what  a  disagreeable,  filthy  habit  it  is, 
and  how  much  pleasanter  our  home 
would  be  without  the  smoke,  the  spit- 
toons, and  the  expectorating.  I  think 
the  women  at  length  rose'  up  and  chal- 
lenged us  to  leave  it  off.  At  any  rate 
the  matter  was  discussed  in  our  even- 
ing meetings  and  we  finally  voted  to 
all  quit  it  together,  beginning  on  a 
certain  day.  There  was  some  groaning 
and  lamenting,  but  on  the  whole  we 
found  it  quite  easy,  doing  it  together 
in  that  unitary  way.  At  all  events  •.. 
got  our  freedom  from  bondage  to  the 
tobacco  principality,  and  have  kept  it. 
I  hope  you  will  persevere  and  overcome 
it  too.  Can  you  not  take  up  some  new 
enterprise  to  distract  your  attention 
until  the  craving  passes  away?" 

44  I    have    not    thought    of  any,    but 
perhaps  I  might.     I  find  myself  feeling 


122  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

rather  low-spirited.  A  sense  of  loneli- 
ness comes  over  me  at  times.  All 
your  people  seem  to  have  a  deep  heart- 
acquaintance  with  each  other,  very 
different  from  anything  I  have  ever 
known  before.  Perhaps  this  makes  me 
feel  my  own  situation  by  contrast." 

"  Have  you  ever  had  any  good, 
bright  religious  experience?"  asked 
Father  Temple. 

"  Nothing  beyond  ordinary  church 
experience.  I  was  brought  up  to 
believe  in  God,  and  have  attended 
church  quite  regularly,  but  not  always 
of  the  same  denomination." 

"  They  are  mostly  dead,"  said  Father 
t  Temple.  "  They  do  not  pretend  to  be 
able  to  save  their  members  from  sin, 
and  they  will  not  accept  the  truth 
about  Christ's  Second  Coming.  I  had 
to  leave  them  and  found  a  church  of  my 
own." 

"Yes,  I  have  read  your  early  history 
and,  in  fact,  most  of  your  published 
works,"  said  Mr.  Scott.  "  The  logical 
force  of  your  reasoning  made  a  convert 
of  me  long  before  I  ever  met  you." 


THE  TOBACCO   PRINCIPALITY.  I1-':'' 

"That  is  interesting.  But  to  return 
to  your  experience:  I  think  you  will, 
after  a  little,  learn  to  avail  yourself  of 
such  victories  as  we  have  won  over  the 
tobacco  principality.  As  you  get  more 
into  the;  current  of  our  life  this  will  he 
easy.  The  first  thing  is  to  try  and  get 
a  better  acquaintance  with  God.  We 
should  every  one  of  us  foci  that  He  is 
our  personal  friend,  leading  us  and  guid- 
ingus  continually.  You  must  ask  Him 
to  help  you  and  to  load  you  into  new 
and  brighter  experience  Believe  that 
He  will  do  it  and  you  will  find  it  coming 
right  along.  Very  likely  it  may  not 
take  the  form  you  would  expect,  but  it 
will  be  what  is  best  for  you.  I  live  by 
practical  faith  of  that  kind." 

11  That  is  precisely  what  I  should  be 
glad  to  do.  Your  words  are  precious  to 
me,  and  I  will  endeavor  to  take  them 
into  my  life.  I  cannot  thank  y<>u  too 
heartilv  for  your  kind  interest." 

"After  yourheart  becomes  warm  ami 
tender  towards  God,"  continued  Father 
Temple.  "  1  [e  will  give  you  a  true  love 
for  woman,  and  you  will  lind  your  life 


124  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

open  to  all  the  higher  and  more  enobl- 
ing  influences.  The  love  and  fellow- 
ship which  come  to  you  in  that  order, 
the  love  of  God  taking  the  lead,  will 
seem  to  you  like  gifts  from  Him.  They 
will  be  a  blessing  to  you  and  all  con- 
cerned. It  is  now  time  for  the  evening 
meeting,  and  we  must  go  in.  I  hope 
you  will  take  part  in  our  meetings. 
Speak  out  what  is  in  your  heart.  That 
will  break  the  ice  and  start  you  into  the 
current.  And  come  to  me  at  any  time 
when  I  can  be  of  use  to  you." 

Mr.  Scott  hardly  knew  how  to  con- 
strue Father  Temple's  remarks  about 
the  love  of  woman.  Was  it  a  sequence 
of  logical  thought,  intended  to  convey 
the  idea  that  when  once  the  heart  is 
established  in  the  love  of  God,  a  true 
love  of  woman  will  naturally  follow?  or 
was  it  a  delicate  suor^estion  that  Mr. 
Scott  should  avoid  any  social  attach- 
ments until  such  time  as  his  spiritual 
attainments  would  warrant  them?  He 
pondered  on  this  and  resolved  to  take 
heed  to  his  steps. 


CHAPTER  XL 

COMPLEX    LOVE. 

In    the    succeeding  days    Mr.    Scott 
found  his  affairs  becoming  more  compli- 
cated.      Notwithstanding    he   tried    to 
take  heed  to   his  steps,  he  was   aware 
that  he  was  getting  deeply  in  love  with 
Julia   Fordham,   and    he  was   uncertain 
how    such    an    attachment    would     be 
looked    upon    by    the    leaders    of     the 
society.     It  might  be  considered  quite 
out  of  order  for  a  probationary  member 
to    be    indulging    in    such    sentiments 
towards  a  full   member.      He  was  not 
even    certain   that   Julia    herself   would 
look   upon    his   attachment    with   favor, 
though  her   manner   in    their   ordinary 
intercourse  was  friendly   and  pleasant. 
I  le  had  not  yet  ventured  t<>  speak   to 
her  about  his  love,  but  was  feeling  his 
way    cautiously.        And     new     he     had 
discovered    that    George    Stanley   v. 
also  an  admirer  of  Julia,  and  as  he  was 


126  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

a  handsome,  smart  young  fellow,  this 
knowledge  was  not  altogether  reassur- 
ing. It  was  Mr.  Scott's  first  love  affair. 
He  was  ordinarily  a  calm,  self-possessed 
sort  of  man,  but  his  feelings  were  now 
agitated  by  hopes  and  fears,  and  by  a 
wish  that  George  Stanley  would  by 
some  chance  become  interested  in 
another  girl.  In  vain  he  said  to  him- 
self, over  and  over  again,  that  George 
was  first  on  the  field,  and  that  he  him- 
self had  no  rights.  He  could  not 
restore  his  serenity  by  any  such  reason- 
ing. 

George  was,  if  Mr.  Scott  had  only 
known  it,  quite  as  much  disturbed  on 
his  part.  To  be  sure,  he  had  youth  in 
his  favor,  but  Mr.  Scott  was  every  inch 
a  gentleman,  and  had  the  advantage  of 
the  refinement  of  manner  which  come 
with  travel  and  much  contact  with  men. 
So  George  feared  he  might  be  sup- 
planted in  Julia's  affections,  and  he 
groaned  in  spirit  when  he  thought  of  it. 

Driven  on  by  such  feelings,  each  of 
these  men  became  very  attentive  to 
Julia,  and  she,  being  a  bright  girl,  was 


COMPLEX    LOVE.  137 

soon   aware  of  their  state   of  mind.      It 
was  unpleasant  to  her  to  he  thus  con- 
tended   for.       Special,    exclusive    love 
attachments  were   not    favored    in    the 
society,    as   they   were    found   to    bring 
in  jealousies  and  selfish    claims.     Julia 
was  aware  of  this,  and  the  situation  at 
last   became  so  trying  to  her  that  she 
resolved    to    take    counsel    of    Father 
Temple    in    regard    to    it.       Whenever 
any  of  the  young  people  found  them- 
selves  getting    into    perplexities    they 
always   went    to     Father    Temple    for 
help.       He  was  ready  to  give    advice, 
and  criticism  if  need  be.     After  hearing 
Julia's    statement    of   her   situation,   in 
which  she  appealed  to  him  to  help  her 
out  of  the  embarrassment  of  it,  he  took 
time   to   consider  it   well,  and  then  ad- 
vised  George  Stanley  to    offer  himself 
for  criticism. 

It  must  he  known  that  in  the  Society 
of  the  Perfect  Life  they  had  what  was 
called  a  system  of  "  Mutual  Criticism," 
which  consisted  in  the  practice  of  telling 
one  another  their  faults  in  the  spirit  of 
love  and    good  will.      This   might    be 


128  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

difficult,  if  not  wholly  impossible,  should 
two  persons  endeavor  to  confer  such  a 
benefit  on  each  other  at  the  same  time. 
It  would  inevitably  lead  to  controversy. 
The  system,  as  practised  in  the  society, 
was  this: 

When  a  person  found  himself,  or 
herself,  suffering  from  temptation,  or 
not  able  to  hold  himself  in  the  clear 
spiritual  atmosphere  which  he  desired, 
he  would  offer  himself  for  criticism. 
If  trouble  was  seen  to  be  gathering 
which  threatened  the  peace  of  the  soci- 
ety, and  the  individual  involved  did  not 
of  his  own  accord  ask  for  criticism, 
some  friend,  or  one  of  the  leaders, 
would  surest  to  him  the  benefit  he 
might  derive  from  one,  as  Father 
Temple  had  now  suggested  to  George 
Stanley.  Then  a  number  of  persons 
capable  of  giving  good  advice  would  be 
called  together  as  a  committee,  the  one 
desiring  the  benefit  meeting  with  them. 
One  by  one  they  would  faithfully  tell 
him  his  faults  of  character,  and  even 
discuss  his  conduct  in  detail  with  the 
utmost  frankness.     It  was  understood 


COMPLEX  LOVE.  129 

that  the  person  criticised  should  sit 
silent  and  thoughtful,  listening  to  all 
that  might  be  said  without  making  any 
reply  or  seeking  to  justify  himself  in 
any  way.  This  was  sometimes  hard  to 
do,  because  others  see  our  characters 
and  conduct  in  quite  a  different  light 
from  ourselves,  and  we  long  to  show 
them  how  mistaken  they  are. 

When  Burns  wrote  his  famous  lines: 

O  wuid  some  power  the  giftie  gie  us, 
To  see  oursel's  as  ithers  see  us, 

he  had  not  heard  of  mutual  criticism. 
If  he  had  he  would  have  written  a  royal 
verse  in  praise  of  it,  for  this  is  just  what 
such  criticisms  did.  They  enabled 
everyone  to  see  themselves  as  others 
saw  them. 

As  Julia  had  mentioned  Mr.  Scott  in 
her  talk  with  Father  Temple,  he  also 
was  invited  to  be  present,  the  place  and 
hour  being  mentioned.  Promptly  at 
the  appointed  time  he  made  his  way  to 
the  South  Sitting-Room,  where  he 
found  some  twenty  persons,  men  and 
women,  including  Julia,  already  assem- 


130  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

bled.  Presently  Father  Temple  entered 
and  took  an  arm-chair  which  had  been 
reserved  for  him.  After  a  short  pause, 
in  which  he  sat  with  his  eyes  closed  and 
arms  folded,  apparently  in  meditation 
or  in  prayer,  he  introduced  the  subject 
thus. 

"  Julia  Fordham  came  to  me  a  day  or 
two  ago  to  tell  me  some  of  her  experi- 
ence and  to  ask  my  advice.  She  was  in 
some  worry  of  mind  over  her  love  affairs, 
and  as  she  felt  that  George  Stanley  was 
getting  into  a  wrong,  claiming  attitude 
towards  her,  I  advised  George  to  offer 
himself  for  criticism,  which  he  has  now 
done.  I  judge  that  so  far  as  George  is 
concerned  this  has  become  a  case  of 
selfish,  special  love,  calling  for  atten- 
tion. I  do  not  wish  to  condemn  George 
for  loving  Julia.  That  is  quite  natural, 
but  it  is  very  important  that  such  matters 
should  be  managed  so  as  not  to  let  in 
false,  evil  tendencies;  and  it  seemed  to 
me  best  to  call  together  those  most 
directly  concerned  and  have  a  frank, 
sincere  talk  about  it.  As  Mr.  Scott  is 
perhaps  not  fully  informed  in  regard  to 


COMPLEX    LOVE.  131 

our  social  theories  and  practices,  I  have 
invited  him  to  meet  with  ns. 

"We  must  keep  clearly  in  mind  the 
radical  difference  between  our  system 
and  that  of  the  world.  In  no  other 
department  is  this  difference  so  great 
as  in  the  social  relations.  Jesus  said, 
4  The  children  of  this  world  marry  and 
are  given  in  marriage;  but  they  which 
shall  be  accounted  worthy  to  obtain 
that  world,  and  the  resurrection  from 
the  dead,  neither  marry  nor  are  given 
in  marriage.' 

"We  believe  that  we  are  doinof  God's 
will  and  that  this  is  the  beerinnincr  of 
heaven  on  earth;  therefore  we  have 
abandoned  marriage.  It  is  certain  that 
our  lives  have  been  happier  and  more 
peaceful  since  we  did  so.  Marriage  is 
a  form  of  legality,  and  so  far  as  women 
are  concerned,  it  is  a  mild  form  o\ 
slavery.  The  husband  feels  that  he 
owns  his  wife  and  can  do  with  her  as 
he  wills.  He  looks  upon  this  as  his 
right,  and  if  anyone  dares  interfere  he 
is  read\-  to  shoot  or  stab.  The  history 
of  marriage  is  filled  with  a  succession  of 


132  HEAVEN    ON   EARTH. 

such  horrible  jealousies.  Not  a  day 
passes  without  its  fresh  instances. 
With  us  there  has  been  no  such  thing. 
We  have  lived  peacefully  together.  It 
is  certain,  therefore,  that  we  have  pro- 
gressed in  throwing  off  marriage.  But 
if  we  escape  from  living  under  the  law 
we  must  be  sure  that  we  are  living 
under  grace,  and  that  our  lives  are 
guided  and  controlled  by  inspiration. 
We  did  not  throw  off  legal  restraints 
until  we  knew  certainly  that  the  grace 
of  God  was  holding  us  in  the  right 
path. 

"  The  love  for  woman  is  an  encroach- 
ing thing  which,  if  given  free  rein, 
would  lead  on  to  selfish,  exclusive 
claims,  like  those  of  marriage,  whether 
the  marriage  ceremony  was  had  or  not. 
My  impression  is  that  such  special 
attachments  as  this  between  George 
and  Julia,  except  as  they  are  entirely 
overmastered  and  kept  in  check  by 
attractions  and  influences  from  heaven, 
are  stimulants  that  enlarge  the  appetite 
faster  than  they  satisfy  it.  The  pass- 
ions and  desires  of  a  man  grow  strong 


COMPLEX    LOVE.  l:>> 

in  proportion  to  the  nursing  they 
receive,  and  out  of  proportion  to  the 
possibilities  of  satisfaction.  Mere  free- 
dom to  associate  would  lead  to  a  desire 
for  exclusive  possession  ;  exclusive 
possession  would  not  be  enough  with- 
out constant  possession  ;  and  this,  in 
turn,  is  never  satisfied  without  propa- 
gation ;  so  you  will  have  to  seek  satis- 
faction in  the  usual  slavery  of  matri- 
mony, where  you  would  be  farther  than 
ever  from  finding  it. 

"  To  come  then  directly  to  the  prac- 
tical point  in  such  a  case  as  this  of 
George  and  Julia,  I  would  ask  George 
this  question  :  If  you  find  yourself 
unable  to  resist  the  attraction  for  Julia, 
so  that  you  drift  constantly  in  the 
direction  of  special,  exclusive-  love  for 
her,  with  a  desire  to  possess  her  wholly, 
against  her  will,  what  is  the  best  course 
for  you  now,  after  you  have  tried  the 
temptation  and  found  out  your  infirm- 
ity, to  draw  nearer  to  her?  or  to  recede 
from  her?  We  read  of  a  'wondrous 
wise  man'  who  first  scratched  his  eyes 
out  by  jumping  into  a  thickset  hedge, 


134  HEAVEN   ON   EARTH. 

and  then  scratched  them  in  again,  by 
jumping  'with  all  his  might  and  main  ' 
into  the  selfsame  hedge  ;  but  we  have 
never  seen  with  our  own  eyes  any  such 
contradictory  operations,  and  we  may 
well  believe  that  it  is  prudent  for  us  to 
keep  away  from  temptations  that  prove 
too  strong. 

"  But  am  I  arguing  against  the  possi- 
bility of  making  a  good  thing  of  love? 
By  no  means.  Note  the  exception 
which  I  made.  I  said,  '  my  impression 
is  that  such  attachments,  except  as  they 
are  entirely  overmastered  and  kept  in 
check  by  attractions  and  infatences  from 
heaven,  are  stimulants  that  enlarge  the 
appetite  faster  than  they  satisfy  it.  I 
admit,  then,  that  the  love  for  woman, 
though  it  be  like  wine  or  brandy,  an 
enroaching  stimulant,  may  be  mastered 
and  made  useful  by  the  higher  powers 
of  religious  love.  I  do  indeed  believe 
that  love  between  the  sexes,  subdued  as 
it  may  be  into  a  branch  of  the  love  of 
Christ,  and  pursued  as  a  science,  with  a 
more  eager  thirst  for  improvement 
than  for  present  pleasure,  will  be  some- 


COMPLEX    LOVE.  135 

time  like  music,  an  ever-larging  field  of 
wholesome  and  refining  discipline. 
Whether  or  not  you  come  within  the 
benefits  of  this  exception  and  these  con- 
ditions must  be  determined  by  the 
answers  which  you  can  give  to  such 
questions  as  the  following : 

"  Has  the  love  of  Christ  gained  or  is 
it  gaining  the  supremacy  over  the  love 
of  woman  in  your  heart  ?  Are  you 
now  inclining  as  much  towards  spirit- 
ual life  as  you  were  a  year  ago  ?  Or, 
to  bring  the  question  down  to  a  lower 
sphere,  are  you  pursuing  love  as  a 
science  and  a  means  of  improvement, 
or  for  its  pleasures?  Does  it  help  you 
to  improve  in  other  things,  or  is  it  a 
means  of  dissipation  ? 

"  I  should  like  to  hear  from  George 
himself,  whether  these  views  do  not 
commend  themselves  to  his  sober  judg- 
ment ?  Do  you  not  believe  you  would 
be  happier  to  hold  yourself  in  the 
attitude  I  have  described  ?  " 

George  Stanley:  "I  am  sure  of  .it 
I  can  now  see  clearly  where  I  got  off 
the  right   track,  and   as  I  fed    that  you 


136  HEAVEN   ON   EARTH. 

are  all  kind  friends  who  have  come 
here  from  a  desire  to  help  me,  I  am 
willing  to  tell  you  all  about  it. 

"  I  have  loved  Julia  for  a  long  time, 
and  have  been  very  happy  in  associa- 
ting with  her.  Undoubtedly  I  might 
have  continued  so  had  I  not  become 
jealous  of  Mr.  Scott.  I  saw  that  he 
felt  attracted  to  Julia,  and  I  began  to 
fear  she  would  love  him  more  that  she 
did  me.  I  feel  humiliated  to  have  to 
make  such  a  confession  of  littleness  of 
heart.  Since  I  fell  under  this  tempta- 
tion I  have  not  known  a  happy  moment, 
while  before  that  my  heart  was  light 
and  free." 

Father  Temple:  "  Undoubtedly  that 
is  the  truth  about  it.  You  did  not  stop 
to  reflect  that  in  our  system  you  had 
nothing  to  claim.  If  Julia  has  given 
you  her  love,  it  was  a  gift,  precious,  no 
doubt,  but  not  one  you  could  claim  if 
she  chose  to  withhold  it.  She  is  her 
own  mistress,  owned  by  no  one.  By 
undertaking  to  set  up  a  claim  to  her 
affections  you  offended  her  and  really 
repelled   what  you   wished   to    secure. 


COMPLEX    LOVE.  137 

Julia  is  a  true-hearted  girl.     She  wishes 

to  keep  her  attention  on  improvement, 
and  she  has   learned  by  experience  that 
the  claims   of  special  love  destroy  her 
peace  of  mind.     She  loves  George,  but 
she  loves  others,  and  must  be  left  free. 
"  It  used  to  be  the  fashion  with  novel- 
writers    to    represent  their  heroes  and 
heroines  as  capable  of  loving-  only  one 
person,  and  only  once  in  their  lives.      If 
the   affair    miscarried    from    any  cause 
their   existence    was    blighted.       They 
could   never  love   again.      While  there 
may  have   been   some  individuals  con- 
structed on  this  plan,  it  has  never  been 
true  of  men  and  women  in  general.      It 
all  depends  on  the  size  of  the  heart   or 
more  accurately,    of  the  soul.      To  be 
godlike  every  man   should  love  every 
good  woman,  and  vice  versa,  using  the 
term  to  denote  the  unselfish,  brotherly 
feeling    we    are     now    talking    about. 
Where    this    spirit    rules     there    is    no 
room    for   jealousy    and   strife.      If    we 
find    a    person    giving    way    to    .those 
ieehngs  we  may  know  at  once  that  he 
is  off  the  track." 


138  HEAVEN   ON   EARTH. 

Mr.  Scott:  "I  feel  a  great  admira- 
tion of  Mr.  Stanlay  for  his  candor  and 
sincerity  in  stating  his  own  difficulty  as 
he  did,  and  I  will  beg  your  indulgence 
while  I  say  a  few  words  about  myself. 
Since  I  have  been  with  you  I,  too,  have 
been  eettino-  in  love  with  Miss  Ford- 
ham.  Father  Temple  has  just  said 
that  it  was  a  natural  thing  to  do,  which 
relieves  my  mind  somewhat.  I  have 
not  said  anything  about  this,  even  to 
Miss  Julia,  and  it  seems  a  queer  thing 
to  do  to  announce  it  first  to  this  com- 
mittee, she  being  present;  but  if  truth- 
telling  and  opening  the  heart  are  the 
order  of  the  day,  I  want  to  do  my  part. 
I  will  offer  myself  for  criticism  with 
Mr.  Stanley,  here  and  now.  I  am 
involved  in  the  same  matter,  and 
although  I  have  done  no  intentional 
wrong,  I  may  need  advice  and  cntic- 
ism. 

Father  Temple:  "That  is  the  true 
position  to  take.  If  everyone  will  stop 
and  say  they  want  to  do  what  will 
please  God,  there  will  be  no  trouble. 
The  attitude   now  taken  by  these  two 


COMPLEX    LOVE.  130 

men  shows  clearly  the  difference  be- 
tween our  system  and  that  of  the 
world.  If  they  were  seeking  Julia  to 
marry  her  they  would  hate  each  other 
intensely.  Here  they  can  both  love 
her  while  they  feel  a  warm  esteem  for 
each  other. 

"  I  think  it  will  be  found  that  the 
most  happiness  will  be  derived  from 
love  of  the  opposite  sex  when  it  is  not 
sought  too  directly,  but  comes  spon- 
taneously as  a  reward  for  something 
else  we  have  done.  Nobleness  of  heart 
will  attract  the  best  love." 

Mr.  Percival :  "  I  believe  that  is 
true." 

Many  others:  "So  do  I;"  "That  has 
been  my  experience;  "  "  And  mine 
also,"  etc. 

Mother  Temple.  "The  attitude 
George  now  takes  of  submission  to 
the  truth  shows  that  he  has  a  deep  and 
honorable  purpose,  and  I  feel  sure  this 
experience  will  result  in  broadening  his 
character.  He  will  see  that  special 
love  contracts  the  soul  and  leads  to 
narrow,    selfish     feelings.       It     distorts 


140  HEAVEN   ON   EARTH. 

everything-  and  leads  the  two  persons 
concerned  to  feel  that  they  and  their 
affair  are  of  more  importance  than  all 
other  human  interests,  which  is  not 
true." 

Emily  Floyd :  "  That  is  exactly  the 
point.  The  young  women  are  learning 
that  they  are  happier  not  to  give  way 
to  the  temptation  to  settle  down  into 
exclusive  relations  with  anyone.  It  is 
sure  to  lead  to  trouble  and  worry  of 
mind. 

Lily  Millington:  "I  think  some  of 
the  older  men  are  very  pleasant  com- 
panions because  they  do  not  set  up 
such  exclusive  claims,  but  leave  their 
friends  perfectly  free." 

Father  Temple:  "  The  key  to  our 
social  system  is  self-control.  That  is 
the  foundation  of  our  theory  and 
practice  of  "  male  continence."  At 
every  stage  of  our  experience  self- 
control  must  be  maintained.  There 
must  be  no  excesses  or  runaways. 
Inspiration  and  sober  judgment  must 
be  able  to  say  to  the  passions  at  any 
time:  "  Go  no  farther"  with  a  certainty 


COMPLEX    LOVE.  HI 

of  being  obeyed.  If  the  passions  refuse 
to  obey,  we  may  know  surely  that  we 
are  going  too  fast,  and  must  recede 
until  thorough  self  control  is  restored. 
It  is  precisely  this  feature  of  our  system 
which  will  prevent  spurious  imitations. 
If  people  attempt  to  live  as  we  do 
before  the  spirit  has  conquered  the 
flesh  so  as  to  give  them  this  self- 
control,  their  passions  will  inevitably 
betray  them.  The  world  may  think 
ours  is  too  exacting  a  standard  of  life, 
but  we  know  that  no  one  can  enter  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  until  the  good 
spirit  does  obtain  full  control  of  all  his 
passions  and  appetites,  and  it  is  better 
to  set  up  that  standard  here  and  now, 
than  to  drift  along  in  self-indulgence, 
with  the  delusive  hope;  that  it  will  all 
come;  right  somehow. 

14  In  this  case  of  George  Stanley  the 
safest  way  for  him  will  be  to  turn  his 
attention  away  from  Julia  for  a  time. 
lie  has  been  causing  her  worry  and 
anxiety  of  mind,  which  he  will  regret,  if 
he  truly  loves  her,  and  he  should  now 
eave   her   free.       Special   love   of    this 


142  HEAVEN   ON  EARTH. 

kind  makes  a  man  think  there  is  only 
one  lovable  woman  in  the  world,  which 
is  very  far  from  the  truth.  Some  of 
the  middle-aged  women  are  the  most 
charming  companions  I  have  known. 
It  would  do  George  good  to  find  this 
out  for  himself." 

Aunt  Harriet:  "I  think  this  has 
been  a  very  edifying  and  instructive 
conversation.  It  has  not  been  a  criti- 
cism quite  in  our  usual  form,  but  it  is 
calculated  to  help  everyone  of  us  as 
well  as  George." 

The  Committee  rose  and  the  criti- 
cism was  over.  What  a  strange  doc- 
trine it  had  revealed!  And  yet,  when 
we  reflect  upon  it,  is  it  not  stranger 
still  that  the  world  should  so  jealously 
maintain  a  system  in  which  it  is  looked 
upon  as  almost  justifiable  for  one  man 
to  kill  another  because  they  both  hap- 
pen to  love  the  same  woman  ?  Nay, 
worse  still,  a  system  in  which  the  man 
sometimes  kills  the  woman  he  professes 
to  love,  merely  because  she  prefers 
another  !     Has  a  woman  not  a  right  to 


COMPLEX    LOVE  14-3 

her  own  person,  and  to  the  control  of 
her  own  destiny  ?  How  many  are  there 
in  the  world  who  know  what  true,  un- 
selfish, heavenly  love  is  ? 


CHAPTER  XII. 

AN    ACCIDENT. 

As  the  season  advanced  there  was  a 
great  pressure  of  business  at  the  Fruit 
House,  which  was  located  within  easy 
walking  distance  from  the  dwelling. 
Vast  quantities  of  ripe  corn,  tomatoes, 
peaches,  and  other  crops  were  brought 
in  daily  to  be  canned ;  and  notwith- 
standing a  large  force  of  hired  workers 
was  employed,  the  manager  of  that 
department  found  it  necessary  to  call 
for  special  help  from  the  members. 
"Bees"  were  organized  nearly  every 
evening,  to  keep  the  fruits  from  spoil- 
ing. The  response  to  such  calls  was 
quite  general.  The  members  walked 
over  to  the  factory  immediately  after 
supper,  and  worked  for  two  or  three 
hours  as  volunteers.  These  were  soci- 
able occasions.  The  men  and  women 
formed  themselves  into  little  groups 
around    the    work-tables.       Seated   on 


AN    ACCIDENT.  145 

benches  or  plain  wooden  chairs,  with 
agate  dishes  in  their  laps,  some  pared 
the  peaches  and  peeled  the  tomatoes, 
while  others  packed  them  in  the  cans, 
ready  for  the  final  cooking  and  sealing. 
The  hum  of  conversation  and  occa- 
sional laughter  filled  the  room.  An 
enormous  amount  of  work  was  accom- 
plished in  this  way  without  fatigue. 
Mr.  Scott  invariably  attended  these 
"bees,"  and  enjoyed  them,  for  he  made 
many  new  and  pleasant  acquaintances 
in  this  way.  There  was  not  much  for- 
mality in  the  social  intercourse  of  the 
members.  When  any  two  met,  a 
simple  greeting  sufficed  to  start  conver- 
sation. 

An  accident  happened  one  evening 
which  threatened  serious  consequences. 
A  large  and  enthusiastic  "peach  bee" 
had  lasted  until  nearly  ten  o'clock, 
when,  all  being  finished  for  the  day,  the 
members  rose  to  return  to  the  dwelling 
together.  The  walk  ran  beside  the 
main  highway  for  a  short  distance 
before  entering  the  grounds.  As  the 
people  sauntered  leisurely  along,    still 


146  HEAVEN   ON   EARTH. 

engaged  in  conversations,  suddenly 
loud  cries  were  heard,  as  of  persons  in 
distress.  Then  a  light  carriage,  drawn 
by  two  horses,  came  dashing  down  the 
road.  The  moon  was  shining  brightly, 
and  it  could  be  plainly  seen  that  it  was 
a  runaway.  A  man  and  a  woman  were 
seated  in  the  carriage.  The  man  was 
tugging  at  the  reins,  his  feet  braced 
against  the  dashboard,  and  shouting 
"Whoa!  whoa!"  at  the  top  of  his 
lungs.  The  woman  clasped  the  man 
as  tightly  as  possible,  screaming  hys- 
terically. The  horses  were  badly 
frightened,  and  were  running  fast.  Mr. 
Scott  sprang  forward  to  try  and  stop 
them.  He  knew  it  would  not  do  to 
get  directly  in  front  of  the  team,  as  he 
would  inevitably  be  run  over.  Instead 
of  this,  he  started  to  run  in  the  direc- 
tion in  which  the  horses  were  going, 
keeping  an  eye  over  his  shoulder,  so 
that  as  they  came  up  with  him  he  was 
able  to  grasp  the  rein  of  the  nearest 
one  without  being  thrown  off  his  feet. 
His  weight  served  to  check  the  animal, 
but    the   other    horse    continuing    his 


AN    ACCIDENT.  147 

frantic  leaps,  they  were  swerved  sud- 
denly out  of  the  road,  the  carriage  was 
overturned,  and  the  occupants  thrown 
out.  This  frightened  the  horses  still 
more.  They  began  to  rear  and  kick, 
to  free  themselves,  and  would  have 
succeeded  had  not  a  stalwart  form  at 
that  instant  seized  the  other  horse.  It 
was  Henry  Franklin,  from  whose  iron 
grasp  nothing  could  escape.  Sooner 
than  we  can  tell  it,  other  hands  joined 
these  two  ;  the  horses  were  unhitched 
and  quieted,  and  the  carriage  was 
righted.  Fortunately  the  man  and 
woman  who  had  been  thrown  out, 
although  badly  bruised,  were  not  seri- 
ously injured ;  and  rinding  that  neither 
the  harness  nor  carriage  was  broken, 
the)-  insisted  on  continuing  their  ride. 
Then  Mr.  Scott  was  discovered  sitting 
in  the  grass  by  the  roadside,  groaning 
with  pain.  It  was  evident  that  he  had 
been  injured  while  stopping  the  run- 
aways. The  members  gathered  about 
him.  and  asked  if  he  were  badly  hurt. 

"One  of  the  horses  stepped  on  my 
foot,    and    I    have    wrenched    my    knee 


148  HEAVEN   ON   EARTH. 

so  that  it  pains  me  very  much,"  he 
replied. 

Henry  Franklin  and  Arthur  Dudley 
lifted  him  carefully  to  a  standing  posi- 
tion. 

"He  cannot  walk;  we  must  carry 
him,"  said  Henry. 

"Wait  a  minute,"  he  added,  as  he 
clasped  hands  with  Arthur,  so  a«s  to 
make  a  very  safe  and  comfortable  chair. 
"  Now  sit  down,  and  put  your  arms 
around  our  necks.  That's  right;  here 
we  go,"  and  they  carried  him  as  if  he 
were  a  child. 

As  he  was  raised  aloft  by -the  two 
young  stalwarts,  Mr.  Scott  caught  sight 
of  Julia  Fordham,  standing  at  a  little 
distance.  Her  eyes  were  fastened  upon 
him,  full  of  the  most  tender  solicitude, 
and  he  thought  he  saw  a  tear  glisten  on 
her  cheek  in  the  moonlight.  Evidently 
she  felt  for  him  a  deeper  regard  than 
she  had  heretofore  permitted  herself  to 
express  by  word  or  act.  The  thought 
made  his  heart  beat  fast.  This  man, 
who  was  having  his  first  love  experi- 
ence  under  such    unusual   conditions, 


AN   ACCIDENT.  149 

who  had  been  striving  to  suppress  his 
own  feelings,  in  order   that    he   might 
not,    by    too    great    precipitation,    lose 
what  he  so  longed  for,  now  found  him- 
self   trembling  with    the    force    of   his 
emotion.      He  saw  Julia  once  again,  as 
they  carried  him  along  the  path  through 
the  little  park.       Her  hat  was  thrown 
back  on  her  shoulders,  and  she  was  still 
regarding  him  anxiously.      How  loving 
and   gentle    she   looked,    she  who  was 
usually   so  spirited  and  shy!     The   in- 
jured   man     forgot     his    hurt     as    he 
thought  of  her  and  vaguely  hoped  and 
wondered. 

Happily  Mr.  Scott  had  sustained  no 
more  serious  injuries  than  bruises  and 
sprains,  and  in  a  few  days  he  was  quite 
comfortable.  As  he  sat  by  his  window 
one  afternoon,  he  saw  a  group  in  the 
"Quadrangle"  paring  peaches  for  sup- 
per, and  he  called  to  them  that  if  they 
would  send  him  up  a  panful  of  the 
fruit  and  a  knife,  he  would  be  glad  to 
help. 

44  Here,  Julia,"  said  Mrs.  Gregory, 
who  had  charge   of  the   "bee,"  "won't 


150  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

you  pick  out  some  nice  peaches,  and 
carry  them  up  to  Mr.  Scott?  I  dare 
say  it  will  cheer  him  up  to  have  some- 
thing to  do.  The  time  goes  slowly 
when  one  is  confined." 

Julia  jumped  up,  and,  after  filling  the 
pan,  ran  off  with  it.  As  she  appeared 
to  Mr.  Scott,  clad  in  a  fresh  muslin 
dress,  blushing  and  smiling,  and  hold- 
ing out  the  peaches,  he  thought  he  had 
never  seen  anything  half  so  pretty. 

"  How  do  you  do  ?"  she  said. 

"  I'm  getting  along  nicely,"  he  replied, 
as  she  wheeled  a  light  stand  up  in  front 
of  him  and  placed  the  pan  upon  it. 
"At  this  rate  I  shall  soon  be  about  as 
usual.  But  why  did  you  not  bring  two 
knives  ?  Are  you  not  going  to  sit  by 
me,  and  talk  to  me  ? " 

"I'll  run  back  and  get  my  knife  and 
an  apron  for  you.  These  ripe  peaches 
will  stain  your  clothes  ; "  and  away  she 
tripped,  bright  as  a  fairy. 

"My  God!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Scott  to 
himself  as  he  was  again  alone,  "what 
a  situation  is  mine  !  Here  I  am,  only 
a  probationary  member  of  the  Society, 


AN    ACCIDENT.  151 

madly  in  love  with  this  girl,  who  is 
a  full  member.  I  do  love  her  as  I 
never  expected  to  love  any  woman. 
And  I  believe  she  loves  me.  Oh  !  the 
ecstacy  of  that  thought  !  And  yet  I 
must  exereise  self-control.  Self-control  ! 
How  easy  to  resolve,  how  hard  to  per- 
form !  No  doubt  it  will  be  best  for  me 
to  have  another  talk  with  Father 
Temple  soon.  But  I  am  going  to  tell 
that  sweet  girl  how  much  I  love  her, 
though  the  heavens  fall." 

Mr.  Scott  fully  recovered  his  health 
just  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  first 
corn-cutting  "bee"  of  the  season. 
There  were  several  large  fields  read)- 
to  be  cut,  and  it  was  desirable  to  do 
the  work  quickly,  as  a  frost  would 
injure  the  stalks  for  fodder.  It  was 
therefore  decided  to  make  it  a  grand 
old-fashioned  bee.  The  women  were 
to  be  invited  to  assist.  A  general  and 
rousing  notice  was  given  at  dinner  time, 
and  as  that  meal  was  finished  the  stir- 
ring sound  of  a  life  and  drum  was  heard 
calling   the  people   to   assemble    under 


152  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

the  large  elm  tree  in  front  of  the  dwel- 
ling. Here  each  man  armed  himself 
with  a  cutting-knife  from-  a  stack  of 
them  which  the  head  farmer  had  pro- 
duced, ground  sharp  for  the  occasion. 
Then  all,  men  and  women,  formed 
themselves  in  martial  array,  and,  march- 
ing to  the  designated  field,  attacked 
the  corn  like  an  army  with  banners 
assaulting  a  fortress. 

Imagine  a  hundred  sturdy  men,  each 
armed  with  a  sharp  and  trusty  blade, 
hewing  down  the  stalks,  handing  them 
carefully  to  the  hundred  women,  who 
in  turn  placed  them  in  stocks,  where 
certain  skilled  men  rapidly  bound  them 
in  position,  while  a  hundred  lively 
boys  and  girls  gleaned  the  ears  which 
had  fallen,  tumbling  about  among  the 
ripe,  golden  pumpkins  with  which  the 
ground  was  thickly  strewn,  a  band  of 
sutlers  meantime  carrying  pails  of  cold 
and  refreshingr  drink  anions  the  workers. 
Picture  to  yourselves  the  dash  and 
courage,  backed  by  tremendous  phys- 
ical strength  and  endurance,  with  which 
Henry     Franklin,      George      Stanley, 


AN  ACCIDENT.  153 

Arthur  Dudley,  and  the  other  young 
men  led  their  several  columns  in  the 
fray.  There  was  a  generous  rivalry 
as  to  who  should  be  first  across  the 
field.  Picture  the  women  dressed  in 
the  short  skirts  and  pantalettes,  with 
no  corsets  unnaturally  compressing 
their  waists,  active,  strong,  and  wil- 
lingf. 

How  the  corn  melted  away?  The 
effect  was  magical.  One  would  imag- 
ine  that  the  wind  was  laying  it  low, 
so  rapidly  it  fell  across  the  broad 
field.  Could  anyone  call  a  two  or 
three  hours'  effort  of  this  kind,  and 
in  such  company,  labor?  It  was 
sport,  keenly  enjoyed.  The  beaming 
looks,  the  kindly  smile  on  every  face, 
the  merry  laughter,  told  of  the  ever- 
present  love  and  good  fellowship. 

And  when  the  work  was  done  and 
all  had  marched  back  like  a  triumph- 
ant army  to  the  dwelling,  the  men, 
in  return  for  sisterly  aid  out  of  doors, 
helped  the  women  to  get  supper,  clear 
off  the  tables,  wash  and  rinse  the 
dishes,    set    the    sponge     for    a    huge 


154  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

baking  of  bread,  prepare  potatoes 
and  other  vegetables  for  cooking  on 
the  morrow.  One  could  then  readily 
see  that  this  life  had  its  compensa- 
tions. The  women  were  not  made 
household  drudges,  so  they  really 
enjoyed  helping  the  men  in  the  fields 
for  an  hour  or  two  at  a  time  when 
the  weather  was  fine. 

When  Mr.  Scott  heard  this  corn- 
cuttinof  ubee"  announced  he  resolved 
to  make  a  practical  attempt  at  self- 
denial.  He  felt  a  strong  desire  to 
secure  Julia  as  a  partner,  and  he  thought 
how  pleasant  it  would  be  to  work  with 
her.  But  he  resolutely  put  this  desire 
aside  and  invited  Aunt  Millicent  to  be 
his  partner  for  the  occasion.  Aunt 
Millicent  was  a  woman  of  forty-five 
years,  and  while  she  was  not  very  strong 
she  had  the  gentlest,  kindliest  disposi- 
tion imaginable.  Mr.  Scott  resolved  to 
devote  himself  to  making  the  day 
pleasant  to  her.  He  took  pains  to 
draw  her  out,  and  found  she  was  pos- 
sessed of  much  information.  He  care- 
fully adapted   his   speed   to    hers,   and 


AN   ACCIDENT.  155 

helped  her  in  every  way  with  so  much 
grace  and  tact  that  she  formed  a  very 
high  opinion  of  him. 

Now,  these  people's  lives  were  bound 
so  closely  together  that  very  many  in 
the  society  recognized  the  effort  Mr. 
Scott  had  made  to  act  on  principle,  to 
make  another  happy  instead  of  looking 
out  for  himself,  and  none  of  them  was 
more  pleased  than  Julia  Fordham.  She 
loved  Mr.  Scott,  and  she  wanted  every- 
one to  know  what  a  good  man  he  was. 
She  was  proud  of  his  effort,  and  when 
he  invited  her  to  take  a  walk  with  him 
that  evening  she  assented  with  the  best 
conscience  in  the  world,  and  was  so 
affectionate  that  he  was  repaid  a 
hundred  times. 

The  completion  of  the  corn  harvest 
was  the  signal  for  a  grand  picnic.  This 
was  held  in  a  shady  grove  of  maples 
which  grew  on  the  bank  of  the  river. 
It  was  a  great  affair,  a  whole  afternoon 
being  given  up  to  it.  There  was  plenty 
to  eat  and  drink,  plenty  of  games  and 
of  social  enjoyment,  plenty  of  thanks- 
giving   for     blessings    and    prosperity 


156  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

showered  upon  them.  The  long  tables, 
covered  with  snowy  linen,  fairly  groaned 
under  their  load  of  such  biscuits  as  only 
Aunt  Matilda  could  make,  with  sweet 
butter  and  delicious  honey  in  the  comb. 
At  a  convenient  distance  one  or  two 
smart  fires  of  wood  gave  opportunity  to 
roast  ears  of  sweet  corn  which  had  been 
planted  late  for  this  occasion  and  to 
bake  potatoes  in  the  hot  ashes.  These 
fires  were  continually  surrounded  by 
boys  and  girls,  who  held  out  the  corn 
on  sharp-pointed  sticks  to  roast  it  over 
the  embers.  Some  of  the  older  boys 
and  girls  might  also  have  been  seen 
taking  a  hand.  Who  does  not  remem- 
ber that  corn  cooked  in  this  way,  half 
covered  with  ashes,  the  whole  eaten 
hot,  has  a  flavor  never  found  except  at 
an  outdoor  feast?  Seated  or  lounging 
easily  in  groups  on  the  green  grass  or 
on  rough  board  seats  by  the  tables, 
chatting,  laughing,  rehearsing  funny 
experiences,  while  bright  young  boys 
and  girls  passed  various  dishes  around, 
all  now  relaxed  thoroughly,  and  gave 
themselves  up  to  the  pleasant  influences 
of  the  occasion. 


AN   ACCIDENT.  157 

There  were  songs,  recitations, 
speeches,  games,  stories,  until  the  dew 
began  to  fall,  and  several  large  wagons 
were  driven  down  to  take  back  the 
tables,  chairs,  and  huge  hampers. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

A    FALSE    INSPIRATION. 

One  Sunday,  soon  after  the  picnic  we 
have  described,  it  was  noticed  that 
Father  Temple  confined  himself  the 
whole  day  to  his  room.  He  did  not 
even  appear  at  meals,  but  Miss  Emily 
Floyd  was  seen  to  cary  him  some  light 
refreshments.  Peeple  asked  Emily  in 
low  tones  if  he  were  ill?  She  replied, 
44  No,  not  ill,  but  very,  very  sober  and 
thoughtful." 

When  evening  came  and  all  assem- 
bled in  the  Hall  for  the  usual  eight 
o'clock  meeting,  it  was  noticed  that  he 
wore  a  look  of  unusal  sternness  as  he 
entered  and  took  his  seat. 

After  the  customary  routine  of  news- 
paper report  and  the  reading  of  corres- 
pondence had  been  gone  through,  no 
one  paying  much  attention  to  them, 
Father  Temple  spoke  : 

"  I  have  a  very  unpleasant  duty  to 


A    FALSE    INSPIRATION.  159 

perform  this  evening,  yet  the  spirit  of 
truth  and  sincerity  compels  me  to  it.  I 
have  prayed  about  it  and  reflected  upon 
it  until  my  way  seems  clear. 

"You  all  know  what  my  attitude  has 
been,  from  the  first  day  we  settled  here, 
in  regard  to    proselyting  for  new  mem- 
bers.    There  was  at  first  some  jealousy 
and  distrust  of  us  among  our  neighbors, 
on  account  of  our  all  living  together  in 
a  great   unitary   family,    after  we    had 
abandoned  monogamic  marriage.     This 
distrust  was  perfectly  natural,   because 
people    did    not    want    their   sons  and 
daughters   exposed   to    any    dangerous 
influences.      I   did  not  blame  them,  but 
I  knew   that  after  they  became  better 
acquainted  with   us  this  feeling  would 
disappear,  and   I  was  able  to  fully  reas- 
sure them  by  announcing  through  our 
paper  that  we  would   not  attempt    to 
proselyte   nor   to  persuade    anyone    to 
join  us.      This  was  an  honorable  pledge 
given   to  the   public  by  which  we  we're 
bound  to  keep  within  our  own  lines,  so 
far  as  our  neighbors  were  concerned. 
I  have  always  believed  that  God  would 


160  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

send  to  us  such  as  he  had  chosen  to 
help  carry  on  the  work  we  have  under- 
taken. New  members  have  come  to 
us  as  fast  as  we  could  assimilate  and 
train  them.  This  policy  of  non-inter- 
ference with  our  outside  acquaintances 
has  been  reaffirmed  here  in  our  meet- 
ings often  enough  for  everyone  to  have 
thoroughly  understood  it,  and  there 
can  be  no  excuse  for  having  violated 
the  pledge  we  gave. 

"  But  it  seems  that  one  of  our  num- 
ber has  done  this,  not  in  one  instance 
only,  but  in  several ;  not  openly,  but 
without  our  knowledge.  And  all  the 
time  he  has  been  doing  it,  he  has  pro- 
fessed the  utmost  loyalty  to  our  doc- 
trines and  to  me  personally.  He  has 
also  publicly  made  the  most  lofty  pre- 
tentions to  spiritual  acquirements.  To 
give  such  loud-sounding  testimony 
while  he  was  carrying  on  his  prosely- 
ting tactics  with  outsiders,  in  person 
and  by  letter,  in  ways  that  would,  if 
persisted  in,  endanger  the  friendly 
feeling  the  public  now  has  for  us, 
is    a    very    serious    matter,    and     one 


A    FALSE   INSPIRATION.  161 

that  calls  for  prompt  and  thorough  treat- 
ment. 

"It  is  right  that  we  should  make 
this  case  a  warning  and  an  example, 
so  that  others  may  learn  not  to 
stumble.  Christ  said  :  '  For  it  must 
needs  be  that  offences  will  came,  but 
woe  unto  him  by  whom  the  offence 
cometh.' 

"The  brother  who  has  betrayed  our 
confidence,  in  this  way  is  Philander 
Koote.  By  a  curious  providence,  the 
evidence  of  his  insincerity  and  unfaith- 
fulness came  to  me  without  my  having 
sought  it  or  having  suspected  Mr. 
Koote  in  any  way.  I  have  talked  with 
him  privately,  and  he  has  admitted  the 
facts  to  be  as  I  have  stated  them.  We 
cannot  temporize  with  evil.  In  this 
case  we  must  invoke  the  searching 
power  of  criticism,  the  Spirit  of  Truth." 

While  listening  to  this  terrible  indict- 
ment, the  members  had  fairly  held  their 
breath,  so  profound  was  the  interest 
felt.  The  silence  had  been  oppressive. 
But  no  sooner  had  Philander's  name 
been    mentioned    as    the    culprit    than 


lf32  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

every  eye  turned  in  search  of  him.  He 
did  not  occupy  his  accustomed  seat  in 
the  front  row  of  chairs,  but  had  chosen 
an  obscure  corner,  knowing  this  ex- 
posure was  coming.  Murmurs  of 
indignation*  could  be  heard  on  every 
side.  The  unerring  instinct  of  the 
people  had  long  since  detected  the 
hollowness  of  Mr.  Koote's  religious 
pretensions,  and  this  fact,  added  to  his 
notorious  laziness,  now  worked  much  to 
his  disadvantage. 

Father  Temple  continued :  "I  think 
we  cannot  spend  this  evening  more 
profitably  than  by  giving  Mr.  Koote  a 
searching  and  faithful  criticism  here  in 
the  presence  of  the  whole  family.  Let 
us  have  a  time  of  sincere  truth-telling, 
such  as  will  make  the  spirit  of  insin- 
cerity which  he  has  harbored  hide  its 
head  and  leave  us.  I  invite  everyone 
to  speak  freely  what  is  given  him  or 
her  to  say.  The  women  are  as  much 
interested  as  the  men.  We  need  not 
confine  ourselves  to  this  particular 
transgression,  but  should  point  out  any 
other   faults   we    have    noticed.       But 


A   FALSE   INSPIRATION.  1G3 

before  we  begin  I  wish  Mr.  Koote 
would  step  out  here  and  take  his  accus- 
tomed seat  near  the  center  of  the  Hall. 
He  has  kept  himself  well  in  front  all 
this  time  while  he  has  been  living  in 
hypocrisy,  and  it  looks  very  cowardly 
for  him  to  ofet  back  there  out  of  sigrht 
just  at  this  time.  It  is  not  Mr.  Koote 
that  we  are  aiming  at,  but  the  evil  spirit 
which  he  has  been  harboring  in  secret. 
We  must  make  thorough  work  of  it  this 
time.  After  we  are  sure  that  the  evil 
influence  has  been  driven  away  from 
among  us,  we  can  give  our  attention  to 
healing  and  comforting  Mr.  Koote,  but 
the  surgery  comes  first." 

In  the  awful  pause  which  followed 
these  remarks  the  wretched  Philander 
arose,  and  picking  his  way  between  the 
seats,  advanced  to  his  old  place,  where 
every  eye  could  find  him,  looking  more 
chap  fall  en  and  humiliated  than  ever 
before  in  his  life.  Then  the  criticism 
commenced  in  earnest. 

EphraimDudley :  "It  is  a  matter  of 
great  surprise  and  mortification  to  me 
that  one  who   has  had  the   benefits  of 


164  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

this  school  for  many  years,  one  whom 
Father  Temple  has  trusted  to  write  for 
our  paper,  and  to  whom  we  have  all 
extended  brotherly  fellowship,  should 
have  been  deceiving  us  in  this  way.  I 
cannot  account  for  it.  It  seems  too 
gross  a  case  of  intentional  wrongdoing 
to  believe  one  of  our  number  guilty  of. 
He  must  have  known  that  sooner  or 
later  it  would  all  come  to  the  light. 
How,  then,  could  he  have  allowed  him- 
self to  go  on  in  such  a  course  ?  Mr. 
Koote  has  been  a  stumbling-block  to 
our  young  people  for  a  long  time,  and 
must  now  have  a  radical  change  of 
heart  before  he  will  be  fit  to  mingle 
with  them." 

Father  Temple:  "In  regard  to  in- 
dustry he  has  been  a  great  stumbling- 
block.  He  has  had  a  desire  to  write 
for  our  publications,  and  I  at  first 
thought  he  was  going  to  be  a  help 
to  me  in  working  out  ideas  which  I 
gave  him ;  but  I  have  noticed  for 
some  time  past  that  he  has  lost  his 
receptivity  to  me,  and  the  consequence 
is   that    his  writings    have  been   made 


A   FALSE   INSPIRATION.  165 


up  of  a  lot  of  high-sounding  but 
heavy  sentences  about  the  Jews  and 
so  forth,  with  no  life  or  power  in 
them.  I  don't  want  any  more  such 
help.  ^  Mr.  Koote  has  been  yielding 
to  this  temptation  for  a  long;  time ; 
and  it  may  take  as  long  to  effect  a 
cure  as  the  disease  has  been  running. 
He  has  been  in  a  constant  state  of 
relapse  and  backsliding,  and  his  moral 
nature  is  weak.  It  must  be  strength- 
ened and  built  up  by  degrees. 

"  But  though  his  moral  nature  is 
weak  his  body  is  strong,  and  there  is 
no  reason  why  he  should  not  work. 
Laziness  may  be  said  to  be  at  the  root 
of  his  troubles.  He  hates  to  exert  him- 
self. If  he  had  exerted  himself  to  over- 
come temptation  he  would  not  have 
exposed  us  to  this  danger.  The  reform 
must  commence  by  getting  some  energy 
into   him." 

Mr.  Kinglake:  "  I  have  never  taken 
any  comfort  in  reading  Mr.  Koote's 
articles  in  the  paper,  but  have  supposed 
others  did,  so  I  said  nothing  against 
them.      It  seems  there  has  been  a  eood 


166  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

deal  of  pretension  about  him,  in  that 
as  well  as  in  spiritual  things.  This 
exposure  leaves  him  pretty  bare.  When 
the  swell  and  conceit  are  taken  out 
there  will  not  be  much  left.  This  is 
humiliating,  no  doubt,  but  it  need  not 
be  wholly  discouraging.  None  of  us 
amount  to  very  much  without  God  in 
us.  He  is  the  source  of  all  good. 
Mr.  Koote's  experience  makes  me 
doubly  thankful  that  the  rest  of  our 
members  have  been  true  to  what  we 
promised." 

The  criticism  had  opened  with  so 
much  severity,  and  Mr.  Koote  was  so 
well  able  to  calculate  what  would  follow, 
that  he  suddenly  bethought  himself  of 
a  bold  course  which  might  save  some 
part  of  his  reputation.  Throwing  off 
his  attitude  of  dejection,  he  broke  the 
rule  of  silence  when  under  criticism, 
and  spoke  thus  : 

"  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  in  extenu- 
ation of  what  seems  a  great  fault,  but 
which,  when  rightly  understood,  may 
be  found  to  have  a  justification.  I  have 
felt  inspired  to  do  what  I  did.     If    I 


A   FALSE   INSPIRATION.  IK? 

have  peculiar  gifts  and  unusual  powers 
of  pleasing,  these  ought  to  be  used  for 
our  cause.  It  can  be  shown  that  I 
have  had  great  influence  in  interesting 
several  persons  in  our  doctrines.  The 
ability  to  do  that  is  a  gift,  and  the 
desire  to  do  it  has,  with  me,  been  due 
to  an  inspiration.  I  have  been  told 
that  there  is  a  peculiar  magnetism  in 
my  eyes.  Ought  we  not  to  be  free, 
each  of  us,  to  follow  our  inspiration, 
and  use  the  faculties  we  have  for  the 
good  of  the  cause  ?" 

Father  Temple:  "  Now  we  get  at  the 
root  of  the  matter.  I  am  glad  the 
truth  has  come  out.  Here  we  have  a 
member  acting  in  defiance  of  our  rules, 
breaking  the  pledge  we  gave  the  public, 
and  claiming  justification  on  the  ground 
of  inspiration.  What  is  inspiration  ? 
We  mean  by  it  an  influence  from  some 
unseen  intelligence,  and  in  claiming  to 
be  led  by  inspiration  myself,  I  mean 
that  I  have  found  a  way  of  getting  at 
the  mind  of  God  so  that  I  can  know 
what  course  He  desires  me  to  take. 
But  there   are   true   and    false    inspira- 


168  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

• 

tions.  Inspirations  from  the  true 
source  will  not  clash  but  will  be  har- 
monious ;  and  they  will  be  found  acting 
on  the  side  of  truthfulness  and  sincerity, 
not  in  such  a  way  as  Mr.  Koote  has 
been  engaged  in.  What  he  has  just 
said  makes  his  case  look  worse  than  it 
did  before.  It  is  evident  that  he  has 
been  led  astray  by  a  false  inspiration, 
and  that  a  very  serious  work  will  have 
to  be  done  in  him.  He  must  be  cured 
of  his  conceit  and  insincerity. 

"  Since  this  matter  was  brought  to 
my  notice  I  have  been  considering 
whether  the  society  is  not  now  large 
enough.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  is,  and 
that  we  should  now  close  the  doors. 
Instead  of  trying  to  proselyte  for  new 
members,  it  will  be  better  to  limit  our 
numbers  and  try  to  make  our  society 
as  perfect  as  possible.  There  are  some 
matters  of  the  very  highest  importance 
which  we  have  not  yet  considered  at 
all. 

11  But  let  the  criticism  proceed.  The 
women  should  say  what  they  think  of 
Mr.  Koote's  claim  to  special  magnetic 


A   FALSE   INSPIRATION.  169 

gifts.  They  will  be  the  best  judges  of 
them.  I  don't  want  him  influencing 
anyone  to  join  us." 

Mother  Temple:  "1  have  thought 
for  a  long  time  that  there  was  insincerity 
in  Mr.  Koote.  He  has  made  swelling- 
professions  which  his  experience  did 
not  seem  to  justify.  It  is  easy  to  re- 
cognize the  good  spirit  in  anyone.  It 
is  not  characterized  by  egotism  and 
swell,  but  by  humility  and  softness  of 
heart.  Mr.  Koote  has  been  full  of 
conceit  and  pride  of  intellect,  with  very 
little  to  base  it  on.  This  humiliation 
will  prove  a  blessing  to  him  if  it  produces 
softness  of  heart  and  sincerity. 

Aunt  Matilda:  "Mr.  Koote  will 
have  to  change  very  much  before  we 
can  have  confidence  in  him  again." 

Lily  Millington:  "This  exposure 
and  criticism  of  Mr.  Koote  greatly 
strengthens  my  faith  in  the  Providence 
over  us.  I  did  not  know  he  had  been 
doing  wrong,  but  his  spirit  was  repulsive 
to  me.  I  could  not  bear  to  have  him 
around." 

Emily  Floyd :   "He   has  had  a  very 


170  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

disagreeable  way  of  trying  to  flirt  with 
the  girls  whenever  he  meets  them.  It 
is  his  habit  to  open  his  eyes  as  wide  as 
possible  on  every  such  occasion,  I  sup- 
pose in  order  to  exercise  the  magnetic 
charm  he  speaks  of.  I  hope  he  will  not 
do  so  any  more.  If  he  knew  how  dis- 
agreeable he  makes  himself  he  would 
not.  Women  admire  manhood  and 
courage,  and  no  one  cares  to  be  hypnot- 
ized or  magnetized." 

Mrs.  Stanley:  u  I  like  what  Lily 
and  Emily  have  said,  and  sympathize 
very  heartily  with  the  whole  criticism. 
I  will  mention  one  other  habit  of  his. 
When  Father  Temple  gives  a  discourse 
in  which  he  brings  out  some  new  theory, 
Mr.  Koote  is  apt  to  take  it  up  and  talk 
about  it  in  his  superficial  way,  until 
everybody  is  very  much  annoyed.  For 
example,  when  Father  Temple  sug- 
gested that  the  spiritual  center  of  man 
is  somewhere  near  the  heart,  instead  of 
in  the  brain,  Mr.  Koote  seized  upon 
some  of  the  terms  used,  and  began 
talking  about  his  '  solar  plexus '  and 
his  'semilunar  ganglion,'  in  a  familiar, 


A   FALSE   INSPIRATION.  171 

off-hand  way,  as  if  he  had  known  all 
about  them  since  he  was  a  child.  He 
kept  this  up,  week  after  week,  until  I 
positively  dreaded  to  hear  him  allude 
to  it." 

Mr.  Gregory:  "Insincerity,  or  pro- 
fessing one  thing  and  doing  another, 
seems  to  have  become  a  habit  with  Mr. 
Koote.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
some  time  ago  he  announced  a  lecture 
in  regard  to  eating  and  drinking.  He 
began  by  referring  to  the  antipathy  the 
Jews  had  to  eating  pork,  based  on  the 
Mosaic  law,  then  spread  out  into  a 
general  condemnation  of  all  meat- 
eating  as  being  carnal  and  unbecoming 
in  spiritually-minded  men  and  women. 
He  would  even  have  excluded  butter 
and  cheese  from  the  table,  saying  we 
could  get  all  the  oils  and  fatty  material 
our  systems  require  from  nuts  and  other 
natural  sources. 

"Now,  I  like  to  have  everyone  free 
to  think  and  say  what  he  pleases,  and 
Mr.  Koote  has  a  perfect  right  to  hold 
and  preach  these  ideas.  But  mark 
what    happened!     Not    long  after  his 


172  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

lecture  we  had  a  good  meal  of  beef- 
steak with  baked  new  potatoes  and 
all  the  trimmings.  Although  I  believe 
in  vegetarianism  in  a  general  way,  I 
felt  a  great  appetite  for  that  beefsteak 
when  I  came  in  from  work  and  smelled 
it  cooking;  and  I  entered  the  dining 
room  anticipating  quite  a  treat,  because 
we  have  steak  so  seldom  and  I  am  very 
fond  of  it.  But  I  happened  to  seat 
myself  beside  Mr.  Koote,  and  I  state 
it  soberly,  as  a  fact,  that  I  was  un- 
able to  get  a  mouthful  of  steak  until 
the  platter  at  our  table  had  been 
replenished  several  times.  Mr.  Koote 
took  care  of  it  as  fast  as  the  waiter 
could  bring  it  on.  I  would  not  have 
mentioned  this  if  Mr.  Koote  had  not 
taken  such  extreme  ground  in  his  lect- 
ure. If  he  had  said  outright  that  he 
was  so  desperately  fond  of  beefsteak 
that  he  could  not  possibly  restrain 
himself  until  he  had  eaten  three  or  four 
large  pieces,  I  could  have  respected  his 
sincerity,  whatever  I  might  have 
thought  of  his  manners.  I  believe  he 
would  have  eaten   half  a  roast  pig  that 


A    FALSE  INSPIRATION.  173 

day,    even    if   Moses  himself  had  been 
sitting  opposite." 

Father  Temple  ;  "  We  do  not  want 
to  be  that  sort  of  reformers,  preaching 
one  thing  and  practising  the  opposite." 

Henry  Franklin  :  "My  desire  for  Mr. 
Koote's  salvation  leads  me  to  hope  that 
he  will  now  volunteer  to  milk.  That 
would  do  more  to  convince  me  that  he 
was  really  improving  than  anything  I 
can  think  of.  'Faith  without  works  is 
dead,'  and  the  work  which  will  do  him 
the  most  good  is  to  get  up  in  the  morn- 
ing and  milk." 

Thus  one  after  another  laid  bare  poor 
Philanders  failings  and  foibles,  with  a 
clearness  and  certainty  that  left  no 
defence,  and  with  a  neatness  won  by 
much  practice.  There  was  no  circum- 
locution, no  waste  of  words.  Everyone 
who  aimed  at  him  scored  a  point. 

This  profitable  exercise  lasted  a  lull 
hour.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  Mr. 
Koote  was  under  deep  conviction.  Pale, 
with  chin  resting  on  his  breast,  there 
was  no  resistance  left  in  him  ;  and  when 
the  meeting  broke  up  he   retired  to  his 


174  HEAVEN  ON  E*ARTH. 

room,  sore  and  downcast.     Something 
seemed  to  whisper  in  his  ear : 

"  The  way  of  the  transgressor  is 
hard." 

Mr.  Koote  had  a  good  enough  heart, 
and  was  sincerely  attached  to  Father 
Temple  at  this  time,  but  his  nature  was 
shallow  and  conceited.  His  humility 
did  not  last  long.  Subsequent  events 
showed  that  the  desire  to  proselyte 
remained  in  him,  urging  him  to  make 
himself  conspicuous. 

This  criticism  was  a  revelation  to  Mr. 
Scott.  He  saw  that  while  the  society 
had  few  set  rules  or  laws,  claiming  to  be 
guided  rather  by  inspiration,  yet  the 
lash  of  public  opinion  as  used  in  these 
criticisms,  was  a  means  of  government 
not  to  be  trifled  with.  The  conduct  of 
individuals  had  to  conform  to  the  will 
of  the  Church.  This  discipline  of  Mr. 
Koote  was  unquestionably  severe,  but 
the  transgression  which  drew  it  forth 
was  most  flagrant.  It  was  the  only 
such  instance  that  Mr.  Scott  witnessed 
in  the  society. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    LAST    ENEMY. 

It  was  rare  that  a  death  occurred  in 
the  Society  of   the    Perfect    Life   from 
any  other  cause  than  old  age.     All  the 
conditions    surrounding    the    members 
were  such  as  tend  to  promote  longevity. 
Pure  water  from  a  living  spring  on  the 
distant    hillside    was    brought    to    the 
dwelling     in     underground    pipes    and 
distributed  to  every  part.     The  ventila- 
tion    of    the    buildings    was    carefully 
planned,  and  as  they  were  warmed  by 
steam  the  temperature  was  kept  equable. 
The  drainage  was  perfect.      With  good 
food,    abundance   of    healthy    exercise, 
entire    freedom    from   care  and    worry, 
and  an  approving  conscience,  there  was 
nothing  to   prevent  these   people   from 
living  out   their  allotted   span   but    ac- 
cidents   and     inherited     tendencies     to 
disease. 

One    of    their   number,    Mr.    Albert 


176  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

Percival,  had  unfortunately  injured 
himself  by  overlifting  before  he  joined 
the  society,  since  which  he  had  never 
been  entirely  well  and  strong,  although 
he  was  able  to  do  light  work.  When 
the  human  system  once  becomes  weak- 
ened from  any  cause  all  the  evil  influ- 
ences which  are  abroad  rush  in  to  make 
it  their  prey.  It  was  so  in  Mr.  Perci- 
val's  case.  One  thing  after  another 
happened  to  him  to  prevent  his  getting 
strong,  until  at  length  he  contracted  a 
severe  cold  which  resulted  in  pneumonia. 
When  he  realized  that  his  condition 
was  critical  and  that  he  was  like  to  die, 
he  summoned  his  two  children  and  their 
mother  to  his  bedside,  and  with  broken 
utterance  addressed  them  thus : 

"  I  may  not  recover  from  this  attack. 
I  fear  that  I  am  nearing  my  end,  and  if 
I  should  die  I  wish  you  to  observe  these 
things  :  We  must  all  be  reconciled  to 
God's  will  in  regard  to  us.  If  He  takes 
me  away  from  you,  trust  Him  still,  and 
do  not  give  way  to  sadness  or  sorrow. 
Do  not  wear  mourning  garments,  but 
wear  flowers  instead.     Let  my  funeral 


THE  LAST  EN'EMY.  177 

be  as  simple  as  possible,  with  very  few 
of  the  customary  formalities.  We  shall 
be  separated  for  only  a  few  short  years, 
when  you  will  all  join  me  again.  I  shall 
watch  over  you  if  so  I  am  permitted. 
My  strength  is  going.  I  cannot  see 
clearly.  Now  let  me  take  each  of  your 
hands  in  mine  and  so  bid  you  good  bye. 
You  will  be  among  loving  friends  who 
will  watch  over  you  and  care  for  you. 
I  shall  feel  that  you  are  safe.  God-bye, 
and  may  God  bless  you." 

There  was  a  slight  pressure  of  the 
hand,  then  he  closed  his  eyes  and  spoke 
no  more. 

It  was  arranged  as  he  had  requested. 
The  funeral  was  very  simple,  no  outside 
clergyman  being  summoned.  The 
members  gathered  in  the  Hall,  where 
the  body  lay,  to  take  a  last  look  at  the 
features  of  their  departed  brother. 
While  Mrs.  Percival  and  her  children 
could  not  refrain  from  weeping,  they 
struggled  bravely  with  their  grief,  in  an 
effort  to  do  as  he  had  bidden.  The 
other  members  seemed  deeply  affected. 
It  was  evident  that  they  had  loved  Mr. 


178  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

Percival,  and  felt  the  loss  of  his  com- 
panionship. They  joined  in  singing 
several  hymns,  Father  Temple  made  a 
few  remarks,  then  a  procession  was 
formed,  and  the  body  was  laid  away  in 
its  last  resting-place  in  the  little  ceme- 
tery of  the  Society. 

A  few  hours  later  the  death  was 
made  the  subject  of  conversation  in 
the  evening  meeting.  Mr.  Edward 
Percival,  after  expressing  his  thanks  to 
the  Society  for  the  kindness  shown  by 
everyone  during  his  brother's  illness, 
said : 

"  It  is  a  great  comfort  to  me  at  this 
time  that  brother  Albert  could  die  with- 
out feeling  any  anxiety  for  his  family. 
He  was  wholly  at  rest  about  them,  and 
died  in  peace.  If  he  had  not  joined 
our  Society  he  would  have  suffered,  as 
so  many  others  do,  from  anxiety  lest 
those  who  were  naturally  dependent  on 
him,  having  no  longer  anyone  to  protect 
and  support  them,  might  be  imposed 
upon  by  selfish  persons,  and  perhaps 
come  to  want.  He  also  felt  entire  peace 
and  rest  as  to  himself,  because  he  had 


THE    LAST   ENEMY.  170 

been  striving,  to  the  best  of  his  ability, 
to  please  God,  and  he  believed  that 
God  loved  him,  and  would  receive  his 
spirit." 

Father  Temple:  "  Death  is  the  last 
enemy  to  be  overcome.  We  can  look 
forward  to  a  time  when  the  immortal 
part  of  man  shall  have  triumphed  over 
mortality,  so  that  death  will  no  longer 
have  power  over  us.  Exactly  how  it 
will  come  about  is  a  great  mystery, 
which  we  cannot  fully  understand  ;  but 
as  we  progress  in  a  knowledge  of 
spiritual  philosophy,  it  will  become  plain 
to  us.  We  can  form  some  conception 
of  how  the  body  may  be  changed  so  as 
to  be  no  longer  subject  to  what  we  call 
'natural  laws,'  by  considering  Christ's 
resurrection  body.  When  lie  rose-  on 
the  third  day  His  bod)'  was  changed. 
It  still  partook  of  the  mortal  nature,  in 
that  it  appeared  much  as  before.  The 
Lord  walked  and  talked  with  His  dis- 
ciples, and  even  ate  with  them  by  the 
seashore,  as  told  by  St.  John.  Yet  He 
was  able,  with  this  same  body,  to  appear 
before  them  in  an  inner  room,  the  doors 


180  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

being  closed,  which  shows  the  spiritual 
nature  of  His  body.  I  look  upon  spirit 
as  a  very  refined  form  of  matter,  able 
at  will  to  traverse  the  grosser  forms 
amid  which  we  live.  This  conception 
will  help  us  to  form  true  ideas  of  what 
our  heavenly  state  will  be.  We  are 
created  in  the  image  of  God,  and 
our  spiritual,  immortal  bodies  are  the 
counterparts  of  our  mortal  bodies.  I 
believe  that  when  two  of  us  meet  in  the 
next  world  we  shall  at  once  recognize 
each  other,  and  appear  so  natural  that 
we  shall  hardly  realize  that  we  are 
spirits.  Some  people  think  of  the  spirit 
as  merely  a  bit  of  shapeless  vapor,  a 
cloud,  an  essence,  or  an  intangible  and 
unsatisfactory  something.  I  once  heard 
a  clergyman  preach  a  sermon  in  which 
he  compared  our  spirits  to  vapor  float- 
ing in  the  skies.  I  believe  our  spiritual 
bodies  will  be  imbued  with  form,  sub- 
stance, and  all  the  intelligence  and 
feeling  we  now  possess.  It  is  merely 
the  mortal  husk  which  is  laid  aside  at 
death.  When  the  soul  is  at  peace  with 
God,  this  change  should  cause  no  fear 
or  pain." 


THE    LAST   ENEMY.  181 

Mr.  Stanley;  "Those  are  very  inter- 
esting thoughts  in  regard  to  the  nature 
of  our  spiritual  bodies.  We  must 
accustom  ourselves  to  think  of  them  as 
not  differing-  from  our  mortal  bodies 
except  as  spirit  differs  from  external 
matter.  The  various  forms  of  matter 
with  which  we  are  familiar  vary  greatly 
as  to  their  density,  gravity,  and  other 
qualities.  Water  will  enter  the  pores 
of  wood,  and,  being  fluid,  can  also  perco- 
late through  the  rocks.  Atmospheric 
air  is  a  yet  more  delicate  form  of  mat- 
ter, able  to  penetrate  many  seemingly 
solid  substances.  Beyond  air  we  have 
electricity,  a  still  more  subtle  form.  It 
was  considered  very  mysterious  and 
dangerous  for  a.  long  time,  but  elec- 
tricians now  manufacture  it,  handle  it, 
and  direct  it  where  the:)-  will,  just  as 
other  mechanics  handle  water.  It  is  a 
fluid  which  will  run  up  hill  as  readily  as 
down,  and  can  penetrate  almost  any- 
thing. Our  spirits  are  probably  only  a 
still  finer  form  of  matter.  God  is  a 
spirit,  yet  He  is  all-powerful.  It  will 
do  us  L-ood   to  rellect  on   these  things, 


182  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

and  form  true  conceptions.  It  will  rob 
death  of  its  terrors." 

Mother  Temple :  "  I  feel  a  deep  love 
and  sympathy  for  Mrs.  Percival  and 
her  children.  We  can  all  surround 
her  with  our  fellowship  so  that  she 
will  not  suffer  from  a  sense  of  bereave- 
ment. I  was  thinking  this  afternoon 
what  a  great  insurance  we  are  to  each 
other.  All  our  property  is  pledged 
to  the  equal  support  of  every  member, 
the  little  ones  as  well  as  the  old  ;  and 
not  only  that,  but  we  have  here  a  hun- 
dred strong  and  able  men  ready  to  pro- 
tect and  care  for  those  who  need  it." 

Mr.  Pendell :  "  Our  system  is  really 
the  best  form  of  insurance  yet  discov- 
ered. In  ordinary  life-insurance,  when 
the  insured  dies,  the  amount  is  paid  to 
the  beneficiary  in  money,  but  there  is 
nothing  to  prevent  unscrupulous  per- 
sons from  getting  it  away  by  trickery 
or  fraud,  or  to  prevent  its  being  lost  by 
foolish  investments.  The  personal 
support  and  protection  of  many  living 
friends  is  worth  more  than  any  sum  of 
money. 


THE   LAST  ENEMY.  1  S>1 

Mrs.  Per  rival :  M  I  feel  very  thank- 
ful for  God's  goodness  to  me  and  my 
children.  When  we  joined  the  Society 
I  did  not  expect  that  Mr.  Percival 
could  live  more  than  a  few  months. 
The  doctors  had  prepared  me  for  his 
death  at  any  time,  yet  in  this  home  his 
life  has  been  spared  many  years.  I 
also  feel  a  deep  sense  of  gratitude  to 
every  one  of  you  for  your  kindness  and 
sympathy.  I  am  not  left  alone,  nor 
are  my  children  fatherless." 

Father  Temple:  "Every  man  of  us 
will  be  a  father  to  those  children. 
They  shall  not  want  for  care  or  love." 

Mr.  Gregory  :  "  They  shall  not  ;  and 
every  one  of  us  will  be  a  brother  to 
Mrs.  Percival." 

Aunt  Harriet :  "  Holding  the  views 
we  do  about  death,  we  need  not  put  on 
mourning  raiment  and  <ro  about  with 
sad  countenances  when  one  of  our  num- 
ber is  taken  away.  If  God's  will  is 
done  we  oiiidit  not  to  feel  sad  about  it, 
but  to  rejoice  that  we  can  believe  on 
Him." 

Mr.    Stanley:      "The     fashion     of 


184  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

mourning  is  kept  up  in  deference  to  a 
foolish  public  opinion.  When  a  wife 
loses  her  husband,  unless  she  put  on 
black  raiment  and  weep  overmuch  the 
gossips  will  say  '  Oh,  she  did  not  love 
him  after  all.'  How  foolish !  As  if 
putting  on  or  off  certain  robes  could 
show  how  much  we  have  loved  those 
who  died." 

Father  Temple;  "It  is  not  only 
foolish  to  think  so  much  of  what  the 
neighbors  will  say,  but  the  fashion  of 
having  very  solemn,  impressive  funerals, 
in  which  the  minister  seeks  to  intensify 
the  grief  of  the  mourners  by  his 
remarks,  followed  by  this  fashion  of 
mourning,  tends  to  make  even  more 
severe  the  inevitable  nervous  shock 
caused  by  the  death.  These  fashions 
are  therefore  prejudical  to  the  health  of 
the  living,  while  they  do  no  good  to 
anyone." 

This  was  not  mere  formal  talk  on  the 
part  of  the  members.  As  the  days 
wore  on  they  did  as  they  had  said. 
A  thousand  little  things  were  planned 
to  comfort  Mrs.   Percival  and  her  chil- 


THE  LAST  ENEMY.  185 

dren,  and  to  break  the  force  of  the 
blow  which  had  fallen.  As  the  weeks 
rolled  into  months  and  the  months 
into  years,  the  same  watchful  and 
tender  care  was  maintained.  In  this 
system  it  seemed  as  if  the  heart  of 
each  member  touched  every  other 
heart,  so  closely  were  they  bound 
together. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   CHILDREN. 

It  happened  that  about  the  middle 
of  November  Miss  Julia  Fordham  was 
assigned  to  a  position  in  the  "  Chil- 
dren's House."  It  must  be  known 
that  in  the  Society  of  the  Perfect 
Life  all  the  children  under  twelve  or 
fourteen  years  of  age  lived  apart  from 
the  adult  members,  in  a  comfortable 
house  of  their  own  which  adjoined  the 
main  dwelling ;  but  they  took  their 
meals  in  the  common  dining-room. 
Their  building  was  so  arranged,  with  a 
large  and  well-shaded  playground  in 
the  rear,  that  their  noise  would  not  dis- 
turb the  older  people. 

When  a  family  with  children  joined 
the  Society,  the  youngsters  were  at 
once  put  to  live  in  the  Children's 
House,  where  they  were  soon  extremely 
well  contented  with  their  fifty  or  sixty 
little  playmates.     A  group  of   five   or 


THE   CHILDREN.  187 

six  caretakers  attended  to  the  wants  of 
them  all,  thus  relieving  the  parents 
entirely.  This  arrangement  went  far 
to  destroy  the  spirit  of  family  selfish- 
ness which  might  otherwise  have  led 
parents  to  be  always  on  the  look-out 
for  their  own  children.  They  were  all 
regarded  as  the  children  of  the  Society, 
to  be  equally  loved  and  protected. 
Those  who  had  no  children  of  their 
own  felt  as  rich  as  those  who  had 
many.  They  could  take  their  turn 
in  living  with  them,  and  very  often 
warm  attachments  sprang  up  where 
there  was  no  blood  relation. 

The  responsible  heads  of  this  group 
of  caretakers  were  called  respectively 
the  "Father"  and  "  Mother"  of  the 
"  Children's  House."  One  of  the 
young  women  usually  served  on  this 
staff  a  few  weeks  at  a  time,  her  duties 
being  to  entertain  and  care  for  the 
smallest  children  during  a  part  of 
each  day.  She  could  take  them  to 
walk,  read  to  them,  tell  them  stories, 
or  teach  them  little  games  ;  and  must 
see    that    they  were    always  clad    suit- 


188  HEAVEN  ON   EARTH. 

ably  to  the  weather.  This  was  the 
position  to  which  Julia  was  now 
assigned. 

One  pleasant  afternoon  when  the 
sun  shone  with  genial  warmth  as  if 
to  defy  the  coming  cold,  she  had  taken 
her  little  charges  to  the  extreme  end 
of  the  lawn,  where  stood  a  group  of 
tall  pine  trees,  and  in  their  shade  two 
rustic  seats.  The  ground  underneath 
the  trees  was  thickly  strewn  with  dry 
pine  straw,  making  a  natural  carpet, 
on  which  the  children  played.  They 
had  several  of  the  tiniest  little  wheel- 
barrows and  carts,  in  which  they  were 
gathering  pine  cones,  to  be  afterwards 
piled  in  what  was  to  them  a  huge 
mound.  Minette  had  come  out  with 
Julia,  and  the  two  now  sat  on  one  of 
the  rustic  seats  watching  the  little  ones 
and  chatting  meanwhile.  It  was  a 
peaceful,  innocent  scene,  such  as  the 
eye  of  a  painter  would  love  to  catch. 

Just  then  Mr.  Scott  was  seen  coming 
down  the  walk  with  light  and  rapid 
step,  swinging  his  arms  and  expanding 
his  lungs  with  deep  inhalations  of  the 


THE  CHILDREN.  189 

bracing  autumnal  air.  Suddenly  he 
came  upon  the  little  group  in  the  pines. 

"Halloo!"  he  cried,  "if  this  isn't  a 
pretty  sight !  May  I  stop  and  view 
your  Lilliputians  at  work,  Julia?" 

"Certainly,  I  have  been  enjoying  it 
myself,"  she  replied  as  she  made  room 
for  him  on  the  seat  between  her  and 
Minette.  "They  are  such  gentle  chil- 
dren, and  they  play  so  kindly  together. 
They  never  quarrel.  See  what  a  moun- 
tain of  pine  cones  they  are  making. 
Aren't  they  industrious  ? " 

"Yes,  indeed.  They  are  examples. 
I  suppose  you  get  to  feel  quite  motherly, 
do  you  not,  caring  for  so  many  little 
ones  ? 

"Yes,  I  find  it  a  good,  useful  expe- 
rience." 

"The  children  of  the  Society  all  seem 
to  be  very  healthy.  Have  there  been 
any  deaths  among  them?" 

"  I  have'  lived  here  eight  years,"  said 
Minette,  "and  there  has  been  no  death 
among  the  children  during  that  time. 
Have  you  known  of  any,  Julia?" 

"  No,"  replied  Julia,  "there  has  been 


190 


HEAVEN   ON   EARTH. 


no  death,  nor  even  any  severe  sickness. 
Their  conditions  are  so  good  that  noth- 
ing is  ever  the  matter  with  them.  They 
are  well  clothed,  eat  nothing  but  the 
most  wholesome  food,  never  sit  up  late, 
and  play  out  of  doors  a  great  deal." 

"It  is  remarkable  that  there  should 
not  have  been  a  single  death  among  so 
many  in  eight  years,"  said  Mr.  Scott. 
44 1  believe  that,  according  to  the  vital 
statistics  of  ordinary  society,  there 
would  have  been  ten  or  twelve  deaths, 
if  these  children  had  been  no  better  off 
than  the  average.  It  is  a  strong  point 
in  favor  of  your  system." 

"Why  do  you  say  4your  system'? 
asked  Julia.  "Why  not  say  'our  sys- 
tem'?    Are  you  not  one  of  us?" 

"  Not  yet,  in  the  full  sense.  I  have 
not  signed  the  Covenant,  but  am  here 
only  on  probation  for  a  year.  I  am 
looking  forward  to  the  time  when  my 
case  will  be  decided." 

44 1  do  not  see  why  you  need  wait  a 
full  year,  unless  you  choose  to,"  said 
Minette.  "You  have  made  many 
friends  here." 


THE  CHILDREN.  191 

V  It  is  pleasant  to  be  told  that,  but 

some  of  my  friends  outside  felt  so  un- 
reconciled to  my  coming  here  that  I 
thought,  for  the  sake  of  harmony  and 
good-feeling,  it  might  be  wiser  for  me 
to  wait  a  year,  and  report  to  them  my 
impressions  of  this  place  and  the  peo- 
ple, before  taking  the  final  step.  I 
don't  mind  saying  that  it  will  cost  me 
some  self-denial  to  wait  so  lonp\" 

"Why  do  your  friends  think  so  ill  of 
us  ?"  asked  Julia. 

"  They  do  not  think  ill  of  this  Society 
in  particular,  but  are  so  very  conserv- 
ative that  they  distrust  all  new  ideas. 
I  am  going  to  give  them  a  great  shak- 
ing up  when  I  go  back  to  New  York, 
at  the  end  of  the  year.  But  let  me  ask 
you  a  little  more  about  the  children.  I 
am  much  impressed  by  the  fact  that 
there  has  been  no  death  anions  such  a 
number  in  eight  years.  Have  they  not 
had  the  common  infantile  diseases,  such 
as  measles,  whooping-cough,  and  scarlet 
fever  ? " 

44  There  have  been  cases  of  those  dis- 
eases here,"  replied  Minette,  44but  the 


192  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

children  attacked  were  isolated  and 
carefully  nursed,  so  that  none  proved 
fatal.  In  fact,  the  little  ones  do  not 
seem  to  be  easily  overcome.  They  rally 
quickly  whenever  they  are  attacked." 

"  It  is  wonderful,  wonderful,"  said  Mr. 
Scott,  as  if  in  deep  meditation.  "If 
the  world  could  only  realize  how  easily 
they  might  escape  from  many  of  the 
miseries  they  now  endure,  it  would  seem 
that  they  must,  as  rational  beings,  bestir 
themselves,  and  put  away  their  narrow- 
minded  prejudices.  When  I  recall  the 
sight  of  the  swarming  little  ragged, 
unhealthy  things  in  the  crowded  streets 
of  the  large  cities,  and  contrast  their 
appearance  with  the  children  playing 
yonder,  I  wonder  that  the  old  system 
can  continue  a  day.  But  we  must  not 
despair ;  changes  will  come  in  God's  own 

A.'  ~      »» 

time. 

"  One  nice  thing  about  these  children 
is  that  they  are  so  intelligent  and  obe- 
dient," said  Julia.  "Children  naturally 
learn  readily  from  each  other ;  they  have 
their  own  public  opinion,  just  as  much 
as  grown  folks  do,  and  if  that  opinion 


THE  CHILDREN. 


193 


is  in  favor  of  obedience  and  respect, 
they  all  learn  it,  just  as  they  might 
otherwise  learn  to  be  mischievous  and 
unmanageable.  We  have  a  little  meet- 
ing with  them  after  breakfast  every ' 
morning,  and  talk  to  them  about  begin- 
ning the  day  right.  In  that  way  they 
are  easily  controlled." 

''Then  you  do  not  have  to  punish 
them?" 

"  Rarely  ever.  If  one  of  them  should 
become  heedless  or  show  ill-temper,  he 
might  be  made  to  sit  down  by  himself  a 
little  while  and  think  it  over.  That 
would  correct  it.  Before  long  a  good, 
pleasant  look  would  shine  out  of  his 
little  face,  and  he  would  then  say  he 
was  sorry  he  had  had  a  bad  spirit,  and 
go  to  play  again  with  the  others." 

"Not  a  very  severe  form  of  disci- 
pline," said  Mr.  Scott,  smiling.  "I  used 
to  get  soundly  spanked  for  rather  light 
offences  when  I  was  a  little  fellow. 

"But  come,   Julia,"  he  added,   "will 
you  not  go  to  walk  with  me  over  by  the  ' 
spring  ?     I  have  a  plan  I  would  like  to 
unfold  to  you." 


104  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

"  I  am  afraid  I  cannot  leave  the  chil- 
dren ;  it  is  my  duty  to  attend  to  them," 
she  replied. 

"I  am  at  leisure,  and  will  take  charge 
of  them  until  supper  time  for  you,"  said 
Minette,  "so  you  can  go  as  well  as 
not." 

"Oh,  thank  you,"  said  Julia,  and  she 
started  off  with  buoyant  step. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

A    NOTABLE    LECTURE. 

As  the  season  advanced  and  the  out- 
door work  was  closed  up  in  preparation 
for  winter,  all  the  members  of  the 
Society  began  to  arrange  for  a  time  of 
vigorous  study  and  improvement. 
Classes  were  formed  in  all  the  common 
branches,  such  as  mathematics,  astron- 
omy, history,  geography,  chemistry, 
and  languages.  Several  of  the  elderly 
people  began  the  study  of  Greek,  that 
they  might  be  able  to  read  the  Testa- 
ment in  that  original.  Classes  were 
also  formed  for  the  study  of  vocal  and 
instrumental  music,  and  for  dancing". 
It  was  the  custom  to  nave  several 
courses  of  lectures  during  the  winter, 
and  to  present  a  play  on  the  stage  at 
least  once  a  month. 

The  enthusiasm  with  which  the  mem- 
bers took  hold  of  all  these  improving 
things  made  the  winter  seem  to  pass 
all  too   quickly.      Each  one  chose  what 


196  HEAVEN   ON    EARTH. 

he  or  she  would  study,  and  the  classes 
were    arranged  accordingly.     Nothing 
could  have  been  more  pleasing  than  to 
see  the   old  and  young,   the   men  and 
women,   mingling   thus.     It  made    the 
elderly  ones  feel  young  again,  and  the 
young    often   found     occasion    to   feel 
increased  respect   for  the  old.     It  was 
found  that  a  quiet  old  gentleman,  who 
was  seldom  noticed,  could  spell  down 
every  one  of  the  others  in  the  public 
contests.     Another    had   an    excellent 
knowledge  of    astronomy,    and   so    on. 
The  plays  given  by  the  members  were  a 
source  of  endless  mirth  and  enjoyment. 
Father  Temple   announced  that,  on 
the  twentieth   of  February,   he  would 
deliver  a  lecture  which  would,  he  hoped, 
mark  a  new  era  in  their  development. 
Much  curiousity  was  felt   as   to  what 
this  could  be,   and   when   the  hour  for 
its  delivery  arrived  every  member  was 
in  his  seat.     This  lecture  was  so  charac- 
teristic of  the  man  and  of  his  movement, 
that  the  reader  will  demand  it  verbatim. 
Here  it  is  : 

"  SCIENTIFIC    PROPAGATION." 


A  NOTABLE   LECTURE.  197 

"  To  prepare  your  minds  for  what  I 
am  about  to  present  to  you,  let  me 
recall  briefly  how  we  have  been  led  by 
inspiration  to  establish  this  home.  We 
did  not  foresee  all  the  difficulties  we 
would  have  to  encounter,  nor  the  exact 
outcome  of  our  efforts.  We  began  in 
a  small  way  with  such  men  and  means 
as  God  gave  us,  and  we  have  built  up 
a  little  Society  on  true  principles, 
which  will  stand  for  an  example  to  the 
world.  We  have  established  industries 
of  our  own  which  are  now  so  large  and 
prosperous  that  our  future  income 
seems  assured.  That  was  the  first 
step,  to  become  self-supporting. 

"  We  have  also  established  schools 
of  our  own  such  as  give  us  all  the 
advantages  of  the  most  favored  classes, 
and  our  young  people  show  the  good 
effects  of  this  culture.  We  were  a 
good  average  lot  of  people,  as  good  as 
the  ordinary  run  of  authors,  clergymen, 
farmers,  and  mechanics,  perhaps,  and 
by  our  living  together  in  this  unitary 
household  we  have  risen  rapidly  in  the 
scale  of  broad  intelligence  and  refine- 
ment. 


198  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

"  A  far  greater  achievement  than 
these  have  been  to  learn  to  live  har- 
moniously together  as  we  do.  That 
required  refinement  of  spirit  and  the 
weeding  out  of  selfishness.  A  great 
work  has  been  done  in  us,  and  we  now 
live  in  closer  and  deeper  spiritual  fel- 
lowship than  the  world  knows  anything 
about. 

"  In  all  these  things  we  have  laid  a 
broad  and  strong  foundation  for  what 
is  to  come.  The  past  has  been  only  a 
time  of  preparation  for  the  greater 
things  to  which  we  are  now  called. 
Our  system,  in  order  to  be  a  true  and 
enduring  example,  must  be  complete, 
providing  for  every  human  interest, 
both  material  and  spiritual.  It  is  not 
yet  thus  complete,  but  the  most  import- 
ant step  of  all  is  the  one  I  will  now  ask 
you  to  consider. 

"  We  have  made  no  provision  for  the 
begetting  and  rearing  of  children  for 
the  Society. 

"  I  have  given  much  thought  to  this 
subject  for  several  years  past,  but  not 
until    recently   has  my   mind   become 


A  NOTABLE   LECTURE. 


199 


clear  as  to  our  true  course  in  regard  to 
it.  We  cannot  follow  the  fashions  of 
the  world,  having  put  aside  marriage  as 
being  the  stronghold  of  selfishness ; 
nor  clo  we  wish  to  do  so,  for  there  is,  I 
believe,  a  better  way. 

"  It  should  be  our  purpose  to  produce 
the  finest  possible  type  of  children,  not 
for  the  selfish  gratification  of  the  par- 
ents, but  for  the  good  of  the  world. 
To  understand  how  we  may  do  this 
we  must  study,  in  a  scientific,  truth- 
loving  spirit,  the  principles  which 
underlie  the  propagation  of  improved 
types  of  any  species.  We  must  put 
aside  all  mawkish  sentiment  and  all 
false  modesty,  and  seek  earnestly  for 
the  truth. 

"  Leading  thinkers  have  in  all  ages 
recognized  the  analogy  between  skill- 
ful propagation  of  animals  and  of 
man.  More  than  two  thousand  years 
ago  Plato  represented  Socrates  as 
urging  on  his  pupils  this  analogy,  and 
the  duty  resulting  from  it,  in  the 
following  conversation  : 

"  '  Tefl  me    this,    Glaucon  ;    in  your 


200  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

house  I  see  both  sporting  dogs  and  a 
great  number  of  well-bred  birds  ;  have 
you  ever  attended  to  their  pairing  and 
bringing  forth  young?' 

"  'How?'  said  he. 

11 '  First  of  all,  among  these,  though 
all  be  well-bred,  are  not  some  of  them 
far  better  than  all  the  rest  ? ' 

"  'They  are.' 

"  '  Do  you  breed,  then,  from  all  alike ; 
or  are  you  anxious  to  do  so,  as  far  as 
possible,  from  the  best  breeds  ?' 

"  'From  the  best.' 

"  '  But  how?  from  the  youngest  or 
the  oldest,  or  from  those  quite  in  their 
prime?' 

"  '  From  those  in  their  prime.' 

"  '  And  if  they  are  not  thus  bred,  you 
consider  that  the  breed,  both  of  birds 
and  dogs,  greatly  degenerates  ? ' 

"  '  I  do,'  replied  he. 

"  '  And  what  think  you  as  to  horses,' 
said  I,  'and  other  animals  ;  is  the  case 
otherwise  with  respect  to  them?' 

"  '  It  were  absurd  to  think  so,'  said 
he. 

"'How    strange,   my   dear  fellow!' 


A  NOTABLE  LECTURE.  201 


said  I.  'What  extremely  perfect 
goverment  must  we  have  if  the  same 
applies  to  the  human  race  ! ' 

'"  Nevertheless   it  is  so,'   replied  he. 
11  Now  the  fact  that  this  great  truth 
was  seen  so   long  ago,  while  no  steps 
have  been  taken   to  secure  a  scientific 
method  of  improving   the  human  race 
by  means  of  propagation,   shows  that 
there   has   been    some    great    and    in- 
surmountable    obstacle    in     the    way. 
Every   reasonable    person    will    admit 
the  supreme  importance  of  the  subject, 
and  we  cannot  doubt  that  it  would  have 
been  reduced  to  a  practical  science  long 
before  this  if  men  had  been  free  to  act. 
"  The  great  obstacle  which  has  held 
the  world  back  is  marriage. 

"  Flowers,  fruits,  and  all  kinds  of 
domesticated  animals  have  been  wonder- 
fully improved  by  skillfull  breeders.  It 
has  been  done  by  careful  and  scientific 
selection  of  individuals  for  matin o-. 
The  cart  horse  and  the  race  horse 
sprang  from  the  same  stock.  They 
have  been  developed  into  widely  differ- 
ent types  by  this  means.     So  one  type 


202  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

of  cow  has  been  bred  for  giving  a  large 
quantity  of  milk,  and  a  very  different 
type  for  beef.  Wonderful  results  have 
been  achieved  in  the  breeding  of  sheep, 
swine,  pigeons,  and,  in  fact,  of  all 
domestic  creatures.  It  seems  to  be 
possible  to  produce  any  given  form  or 
color,  by  selecting  and  mating  the 
parents  scientifically.  A  skillful  breeder 
of  pigeons  used  to  say  that  he  could 
produce  any  given  feather  in  three 
years,  but  it  would  take  him  six  years 
to  obtain  head  and  beak.  It  is  said  of 
this  man  that  he  used  to  spend  two  or 
three  days  in  examining,  consulting,  and 
disputing  with  a  friend  which  were  the 
best  of  five  or  six  birds.  Another 
eminent  breeder  told  a  friend  that  he 
always  deliberated  for  several  days 
before  he  matched  each  pair. 

"This  shows  us  how  science,  deals 
with  the  subject.  Men  take  advantage 
of  the  law  that  like  begets  like,  that  all 
traits,  both  good  and  bad,  are  trans- 
missible, to  greatly  improve  all  the 
lower  animals.  But  man  himself,  the 
most  important  being  of  all,  having  no 


A  NOTABLE   LECTURE.  203 

visible  superior  to  compel  him  to  the 
scientific  course  in  breeding  his  kind, 
has  not  made  a  similar  improvement. 
The  institution  of  marriage  has  not 
permitted  a  wise  selection  of  individuals 
(or  mating.  Mariages  are  brought 
about  by  sentiment.  A  young  man 
and  a  young  woman  fall  in  love  and 
marry,  without  giving  a  thought  to 
what  sort  of  children  they  are  likely  to 
have.  It  may  be  that  their  children 
are  ill-formed,  weak,  and  sickly;  they 
keep  on  breeding,  nevertheless. 

"  In  the  case  of  man  this  matter  is  of 
vastly  greater  importance  than  with  the 
animals,  because  intellectual  and  spirit- 
ual traits  are  hereditary,  as  well  as 
physical  traits.  Criminals  should  never 
be  allowed  to  propagate.  It  is  recorded 
that  of  the  direct  descendants  of  one 
woman  who  was  a  notorious  criminal, 
the  astonishing  number  of  one  hundred 
and  eighteen  persons  were  convicted  of 
crime  and  imprisoned.  That  illustrates 
the  influence  breeding  has  on  the  eleva- 
tion or  lowering  of  human  character. 
To  be  born  right  is  the  most  important 
thing  that  can  happen  to  a  man. 


204  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

"  Those  people  who  cling  so  tena- 
ciously to  old  institutions,  no  matter 
how  productive  of  evil  they  may  be,  or 
how  much  they  obstruct  the  world's 
progress,  may  contend  that  it  would  be 
wrong  to  interfere  with  what  is  called 
4  natural  selection '  of  human  mates, 
even  while  the  wonderful  results  of  arti- 
ficial, scientific  selection  in  breeding 
animals  and  birds  are  freely  admitted. 
It  is  fashionable  to  exalt  the  special 
magnetic  attraction  between  a  young 
man  and  a  young  woman  into  the 
highest  place,  as  though  it  were  the 
loftiest  and  most  worthy  sentiment  they 
were  capable  of.  But  even  this  fashion 
is  changing.  The  '  love  in  a  cottage  ' 
idea  is  giving  place  to  a  prudent  out- 
look in  regard  to  money.  It  would  be 
only  a  step  farther  to  take  a  prudent 
outlook  in  regard  to  what  sort  of  chil- 
dren  any  proposed  union  is  likely  to 
produce.  As  to  the  naturalness  of  this, 
I  contend  that  many  things  which  are 
natural  for  man  are  not  natural  for  the 
brutes,  such  as  wearing  clothes,  liv- 
ing in   houses,  and  cooking   our  foor. 


A  NOTABLE   LECTURE.  205 

Nobody  would  think  for  a  moment  that 
we  ought  to  be  governed  in  those  things 
by  the  custom  of  animals,  neither  should 
we  in  such  higher  matters  as  propa- 
gation. We  must  use  our  brains,  and 
try  to  produce  the  best  results. 

"  I  have  said  that  marriage  is  the 
institution  which  has  prevented  the 
human  race  from  enjoying  the  enor- 
mous benefits  of  scientific  propagation. 
Consider,  now,  how  wonderful  it  is  that 
we  have  been  led  by  inspiration  to  dis- 
card marriage.  We  had  no  thought  of 
its  influence  on  breeding,  but  we  threw 
it  off  because  it  proved  to  be  such  a 
stronghold  of  selfishness.  Now  we, 
alone  of  all  people  on  the  earth,  find 
ourselves  free  to  apply  true  scientific 
principles  to  the  breeding  of  our  chil- 
dren. We  have  devoted  our  lives  and 
our  energies  to  establishing  a  true  form 
of  society,  and  I  esteem  it  a  wonderful 
providence  which  makes  it  possible  for 
us  to  set  the  world  an  example  in  scien- 
tific propagation.  It  will  make  our 
system  complete,  and  round  out  our 
career. 


206  HEAVEN   ON   EARTH. 

"The  study  of  this  subject  ought  to 
be  a  great  incentive  to  individual  im- 
provement. Those  who  are  ambitious 
to  take  part  in  propagation  should  exer- 
cise themselves  mightily  to  get  rid  of 
their  bad  traits  and  to  strengthen  their 
good  ones.  We  must  strive  to  be 
healthy  and  vigorous  physically,  and  to 
develop  all  the  nobler  qualities  of  our 
nature.  The  work  of  selection  will 
probably  be  left  to  a  judicious  com- 
mittee, and  they  will  naturally  begin  by 
marking  off  all  who  are,  from  any  cause, 
not  fit.  Such  traits  as  laziness,  conceit, 
and  marked  selfishness  would  disqualify 
a  person  just  as  surely  as  if  he  were 
scrofulous  or  consumptive. 

"  I  look  upon  it  as  the  noblest  ambi- 
tion we  can  set  before  ourselves  to 
produce  children  perfect  in  mind,  in 
disposition,  and  in  body.  As  we  ad- 
vance in  years  so  that  our  own  activities 
begin  to  wane,  what  pride  and  happiness 
we  can  feel  if  we  are  able  to  see  such  a 
class  growing  up  in  the  Society.  The 
children  we  have  are  very  good,  but  I 
believe  wonderful  results  can  be  pro- 


A    NOTABLE   LECTURE.  207 

duced  by  applying  scientific  principles 
to  the  selection  of  parents  for  mating. 

"I  have  presented  these  ideas  in 
order  that  we  may  all  study  them  to- 
gether. We  must  all  feel  united  and 
sure  of  our  position  before  we  take  any 
practical  steps.  It  will  be  the  supreme 
test  of  our  unselfishness,  but  I  believe 
we  are  now  sufficiently  advanced  to 
undertake  it.  We  will  make  haste 
slowly,  and  ask  God  to  give  us  wisdom 
and  grace." 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

MODERN    NICODEMUSES. 

The  radical  departure  from  old  cus- 
toms which  Father  Temple  had  made, 
and  the  fearless,  sincere  way  in  which 
he  published  the  particulars  of  his  faith 
and  practice  through  the  medium  of  his 
weekly  paper,  attracted  to  him  many  con- 
fidences from  persons  outside  his  society 
who  would  never  have  been  suspected 
of  harboring  a  single  idea  which  was  not 
exactly  in  line  with  the  old  ways  and 
usages.  Letters  were  frequently  re- 
ceived from  bright,  thinking  people, 
asking  for  more  details  of  the  new  life, 
expressing  unbounded  admiration  of 
what  had  already  been  accomplished 
by  the  society,  and  very  often  making 
confessions  of  personal  experiences  in 
marriage  and  out  of  it,  such  as  gave  the 
members  views  of  ordinary  society 
quite  suprising.  Many  were  the  tales 
of  married  infelicity,  of  strange  incom- 


MODERN  NICODEMUSES.  209 


patibilities  of  disposition  and  temper, 
and  of  heartfelt  longing  to  be  free  from 
the  yoke,  which  were  told  to  Father 
Temple  and  his  people. 

As  the  winter  months  rolled  by  and 
the  genial  month  of  May  came  again,  a 
singular  coincidence  served  to  impress 
upon  the  mind  of  Mr.  Scott  the  exeed- 
ing  flimsiness  of  the  apparent  loyalty  to 
old  traditions  which  people  hold  up  in 
front  of  them  as  a  shield.      It  happened 
that  a  letter  was  received  on  the  same 
day  from  each  of  three  prominent  men 
in  New  York  City,  asking  permission  to 
visit  the  society.      One  of  these  letters 
was    from   a    distinguished    clergyman, 
another  from  a  well-known  physician,' 
the  third   from   an  editor  of   note.      It 
would  be  obviously   improper  to    o-ive 
their    names,    as    it  was    their   evident 
desire  to  make  quiet,  unheralded  visits. 
The  clergyman  wrote  thus: 

"Rev.  Robert  Temple. 

"My  Dear  Sir:— I  have  for  several  years 
been  somewhat  familiar  with  your  doctrines 
and  can  assure  you  that  while  I  would  not  be 


210  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

permitted  to  preach  them  from  my  pulpit,  yet 
I  cannot  but  feel  in  my  heart  that  you  are 
right.  Your  beliefs  in  regard  to  the  Origin 
of  Evil,  the  Second  Coming  of  Christ,  and 
the  necessity  of  our  being  really  saved  from 
sin,  are  so  manifestly  true  that  there  is  no 
gainsaying  them.  Yet  the  world  is  not  ready 
to  accept  them,  and,  humiliating  though  it  be, 
a  hired  clergyman  can  only  preach  what  is 
acceptable  to  his  flock. 

"In  regard  to  your  social  and  domestic 
arrangements  I  am  not  fully  informed,  and  I 
feel  some  curiosity  to  observe  for  myself  the 
practical  workings  of  your  system.  To  this 
end  I  write  to  ask  if  I  may  be  permitted  to 
make  you  a  brief  visit  with  my  wife.  We 
are  going  to  Niagara  Falls  soon,  and  could 
arrange  to  stop  over  with  you  for  a  day  or 
two.  I  would  like  to  time  our  journey  so  as 
to  arrive  at  your  place  on  the  20th  inst.,  as  I 
understand  this  will  be  before  your  regular 
season  for  receiving  visitors  opens,  and  we 
could  therefore  have  a  quiet  opportunity  to 
study  you  by  ourselves. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 


The     learned     physician    wrote     as 
follows : 
"  Rev.  Robert  Temple, 

"My  Dear  Sir: — I   am   at   the   present 
time  engaged  in  writing  a  book  in  which  I 


MODERN  NICODEMUSES.  211 

shall  treat  more  especially  of  nervous  diseases 
such  as  are  caused  and  aggravated  by  hurry, 
worry,  and  the  high  pressure  of  our  modern 
ways  of  life ;  and  having  read  an  account  of 
your  society,  in  which  the  conditions  and 
environments  are  all  so  very  different  from 
those  that  obtain  in  the  great  world,  I  beg  to 
ask  if  you  can  conveniently  accord  me  the 
satisfaction  of  a  short  visit,  in  order  that  I 
may  observe  your  people  and  their  ways  of 
life  for  myself?  God  knows  the  world  has 
need  of  some  new  way  of  living,  if  we  are  to 
preserve  any  health  at  all.  It  would  be  most 
convenient  for  me  to  take  a  fast  train  which 
reaches  your  station  about  noon,  leaving  here 
early  in  the  morning  of  the  20th  inst.  My 
wife  wishes  to  accompany  me,  as  she  feels 
much  interest  in  your  people.  Kindly  advise 
me  by  return  mail,  and  oblige." 

The   editor  couched   his   request    in 
these  words : 

"  Rev.  Robert  Temple, 

"  My  Dear  Sir: — I  would  ask  the  privilege 
of  making  you  a  short  visit  with  my  wife,  for 
the  purpose  of  studying  your  system,  of 
which  I  have  read  several  accounts  that  inter- 
ested me  deeply.  I  do  not  ask  this  with  any 
intention  of  writing  about  you  myself,  but 
because  I  feel  a  profound  admiration  of  the 


212  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

courage  and  skill  with  which  you  have  con- 
ducted the  experiment  thus  far,  and  a  hope 
that  it  may  lead  the  world  up  to  better  things. 
If  acceptable  to  you  my  wife  and  I  would 
leave  here  by  a  train  which  will  reach  you 
late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  20th  inst.  May 
we  come  ? 

Yours  truly, 


Strangely  enough,  Mr.  Scott  had 
known  each  of  these  three  men  quite 
well  when  living  in  New  York,  and  had 
met  two  of  them  abroad.  So  when 
their  letters  were  read  in  evening  meet- 
ing, and  the  odd  fact  that  they  should 
have  all  hit  upon  the  same  date  for  their 
visits  was  alluded  to,  he  foresaw  an 
amusing  situation.  He  knew  very  well 
that,  while  the  writers  were  quite  sin- 
cere in  their  expressions,  they  would 
scarcely  wish  to  have  it  known  how 
much  they  sympathized  with  the  new 
movement,  because  of  what  their  distin- 
guished acquaintances  might  say.  But 
he  decided  to  keep  his  own  counsel,  for 
the  sake  of  observing  how  these  people 
would    carry    themselves    when     they 


MODERN  NICODEMUSES.  213 

should  unexpectedly  meet  at  the  Soci- 
ety. He  knew  that  they  were  well 
acquainted  with  each  other,  so  there 
would  be  no  escape.  Father  Temple 
sent  favorable  replies  to  the  writers, 
cordially  inviting  them  to  come  on  the 
day  named. 

The  clergyman  and  his  wife  were  the 
first  to  arrive  on  the  twentieth,  coming 
on  an  early  train.  Finding  the  coast 
clear,  they  started  out  on  a  tour  of 
inspection,  under  the  friendly  guidance 
of  "Aunt  Julia."  They  visited  the 
kitchen,  laundry,  and  all  the  public 
rooms,  and  after  spending  an  hour  in 
the  flower-gardens,  en^a^ed  a  team  and 
drove  to  the  silk  factory. 

Scarcely  had  they  gone  when  the 
physician  and  his  wife  alighted  from 
another  train.  The  doctor  was  a  bus- 
tlincr,  energetic  little  man  with  rotund 
form  and  bald  head.  After  eatine 
luncheon,  he  was  taken  in  charge  by 
Mr.  Pendell,  and,  with  pencil  and  note- 
book in  hand,  was  soon  racing  about 
from  one  place  to  another,  asking  ques- 
tions at  the  rate  of  three  or  four  a 
minute. 


214  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

Three  hours  later  the  editor  and  his 
wife  arrived.  The  day  was  then  too 
far  spent  to  allow  of  sight-seeing,  so 
they  retired  to  their  room  to  rest  and 
prepare  for  supper.  So  it  happened 
that  neither  of  the  couples  met  until 
they  entered  the  dining-room  and  were 
seated  together  at  the  visitors'  table. 
Then  there  was  a  mutual  recognition, 
somewhat  embarrassed  salutations,  and 
notwithstanding  these  people  were  too 
well-bred  to  betray  the  surprise  they 
really  felt,  there  was  a  slight  bowing  of 
heads  over  teacups,  as  the  comical 
aspect  of  the  situation  dawned  upon 
them.  Mr.  Scott,  who  sat  at  a  table  in 
another  part  of  the  room,  where  he 
could  observe  them,  had  much  ado  not 
to  laugh  outright,  but  he  managed  to 
suppress  the  disposition,  resolving  to 
make  himself  known  to  them  after 
supper. 

When  the  meal  was  over,  the  visitors 
all  retired  to  the  reception-room,  actu- 
ated by  a  common  desire  to  make 
explanations.  A  little  later  Mr.  Scott 
also  entered  the  room.     The  clergyman 


MODERN  NICODEMUSES.  215 

and  his  wife  were  seated  on  a  large, 
old-fashioned  sofa,  covered  with  hair- 
cloth. The  doctor  and  his  wife  and  the 
editor  and  his  wife  had  drawn  large 
rocking-chairs  up  in  front  of  the  sofa, 
so  they  were  all  assembled  in  a  little 
group,  and  so  occupied  in  what  they 
were  saying  that  they  did  not  notice 
Mr.  Scott  when  he  first  entered.  As 
he  approached  them,  the  clergyman  was 
saying : 

"Yes,  I  had  heard  so  much  about 
this  strange  society,  that  finding  I  could 
spend  a  few  hours  here  without  losing 
my  Western  connections,  I  decided  to 
run  up  and  look  it  over.  Of  course  I 
have  no  sympathy  with  such  radical 
ideas,  but  nowadays  a  clergyman  must 
know  what  the  world  is." 

11  Thas  is  so,"  chimed  in  the  editor; 
"we  cannot  properly  criticise  any  new 
development  such  as  this  until  we  under- 
stand what  it  is,  and  what  its  claims 
are. 

"My  visit  is  merely  in  the  interest  of 
science,"  said  the  physician.  "  I  am 
here    to    study    the    conditions   which 


216  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

relate  to  health,  and  to  compare  them 
with  ordinary  conditions.  I  do  not 
concern  myself  with  the  religious 
doctrines  or  social  theories  of  the 
society." 

As  the  little  man  said  this  he  hap- 
pened to  glance  over  his  shoulders  and 
saw  Mr.  Scott.  Recognizing  him  in- 
stantly  he  leapt  to  his  feet,  grasped 
him  by  the  hand,  and  in  a  loud,  hearty 
voice  exclaimed  : 

4 'Good  evening,  Mr.  Scott,  when  did 
you  arrive  ?  Are  all  the  rest  of  our 
New  York  friends  on  the  way  here,  or 
what  has  happened  to  send  you  on 
alone?" 

At  this  they  all  laughed  heartily,  and 
shook  Mr.  Scott  by  the  hand. 

"  I  might  retort  by  asking  how  it 
happens  that  three  such  representative 
men  from  my  native  town  should 
resolve  to  visit  this  quiet  place  to- 
gether?" he  replied.  "Are  you  all 
turned  Perfectionists,  and  have  you 
come  to  join  ?" 

"  Lord  bless  you  !  no,"  replied  the 
little    doctor.       "  We    did    not     come 


MODERN  NICODEMUSRS.  217 

together,  but  met  here  quite  by  chance. 
The  strangest  part  of  it  is  that  each  of 
our  visits  is  in  a  manner  accidental. 
One  lost  a  train,  the  others  found  them- 
selves thrown  this  way  by  unusual 
circumstances,  and  so  here  we  are, 
determined  to  make  the  best  of  it. 
Strange,  is  it  not  ?  What  accident, 
drove  you  here  ?  " 

"  What  you  tell  me  about  yourselves 
is,  indeed,  quite  surprising."  said  Mr. 
Scott.  "  I  have  been  living  here  some 
months  myself,  as  a  probationary  mem- 
ber, and  when  I  heard  your  letters  read 
in  our  evening  meeting,  asking  permis- 
sion to  visit  us,  I  judged  that  your 
coming  would  be  by  calm  design,  and 
not  at  all  by  accident.  How  do  you 
explain  that  ? " 

"Ho!  ho!  ho!"  laughed  the  little 
doctor,  clapping  his  hands,  "here's  a 
go,  sure  enough.  We  may  as  well  own 
up,  all  of  us,  and  leave  off  this  hypoc- 
risy. Mr.  Scott  can  see  through  us  if 
he  has  read  our  letters." 

"That  is  true,"  said  Mr.  Scott.  "  It 
seems  to  me  that  you  worthy  people  are 


218  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

suffering  from  such  an  abject  fear  of 
each  other's  opinions  that  you  scarcely 
dare  tell  the  truth.  In  your  hearts  you 
sympathize  with  the  doctrines  taught  by 
Father  Temple,  and  you  would  un- 
doubtedly enjoy  living  here.  If  you 
only  had  the  courage  to  speak  out  your 
real  views,  you  would  find  you  have 
nothing  to  fear,  as  half  the  world  is 
heartily  tired  of  the  old  system,  and 
ready  for  something  better." 

"  I  guess  that  is  pretty  nearly  the 
truth,"  said  the  editor.  "We  are  afraid 
of  each  other.  But  how  does  it  happen 
that  we  find  you  in  the  position  of  a 
probationary  member,  friend  Scott  ? 
You  seem  to  be  quite  an  advanced 
student  of  the  new  system." 

"Yes,  I  have  lived  among  these  peo- 
ple for  nearly  a  year,  and  the  more  I 
see  of  them,  the  better  I  like  them.  I 
hope  you  will  all  remain  here  long 
enough  to  understand  them.  Now  that 
there  is  no  further  occasion  for  your 
keeping  on  your  disguises,  why  not 
candidly  and  fearlessly  investigate?  I 
will  do  all  I  can  to  aid  you." 


MODERN  NICODEMUSES.  219 

"Thank  you,"  said  the  editor.  "I, 
for  one,  will  accept  your  offer." 

"So  will  I,"  said  the  physician. 

"And  I,"  said  the  clergyman. 

"  If  Mr.  Scott  can  afford  to  spend  a 
year  here,  I  do  not  think  a  day  or 
two  will  harm  us,"  said  the  clergyman's 
wife. 

So  it  was  settled  that  they  would  all 
remain.  Finding  that  Mr.  Scott  was 
acquainted  with  these  people,  Father 
Temple  requested  him  to  give  up  his 
time  to  them,  and  to  arrange  whatever 
entertainments  he  thought  proper  for 
the  evening  hours.  As  master  of  cere- 
monies, he  o^ave  one  entire  evening" 
to  music.  The  orchestra  played  the 
overtures  to  "William  Tell"  and  to 
'Zampa,"  a  set  of  waltzes  by  Lanner, 
and  a  work  entitled  "  La  Bambinella," 
by  one  Carolus  Swift,  a  member  of  the 
Society.  The  children  sang  several 
pretty  songs  and  performed  their  little 
pantomime.  Miss  Minette  Pendell  sang 
the  "Angel's  Serenade,"  by  Braga, 
Hugo  Fairfax  playing  the  violin  obli- 
gato  with  great  delicacy ;  and  Miss  Julia 


220  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

Fordham  rendered  several  piano  solos 
most  acceptably.  Mr.  Scott  was  really 
proud  of  these  performers,  who,  being 
in  the  main  self-taught,  might  easily 
have  been  taken  for  professionals. 
Performing  together  daily  had  given 
them  a  smooth  and  agreeable  execution. 
The  doctor  was  passionately  fond  of 
music,  and  grew  positively  enthusiastic. 
The  lady  visitors  declared,  withone  voice, 
that  the  children  were  better  trained 
than  any  they  had  ever  seen  before. 

The  next  evening  was  given  up  to  a 
dance  in  the  Hall.  The  chairs  and 
tables  were  stacked  away  in  the  ante- 
rooms, and  the  floor  was  carefully  pre- 
pared. They  danced  good  old-fashioned 
quadrilles,  country  dances,  reels,  etc., 
not  having  become  versed  in  the  mod- 
ern round  dances.  The  doctor  and  his 
wife  took  part  in  this  healthy  exercise, 
and  so  did  the  editor  and  his  wife  ;  but 
the  clergyman  could  not  permit  such  an 
indulgence,  though  he  looked  on  in  an 
interested  way.  It  was  a  novelty  to  see 
the  ladies  of  the  society  dance  in  their 
short  dresses  and  pantalettes. 


MODERN  NICODEMUSES.  221 


The  third  and  last  evening  was  spent 
in  the  ordinary  way,  the  evening  meet- 
ing occupying  the  hour  from  eight  till 
nine  o'clock.  There  was  the  customary 
news  report  and  reading  of  correspond- 
ence, followed  by  religious  conversation. 

By  this  time  the  visitors  had  begun 
to  feel  the  atmosphere  of  brotherly  love 
and  fellowship  which  reigned  here. 
Every  possible  kindness  had  been  shown 
them  ;  they  had  been  accorded  every 
means  of  studying  the  system,  and  when, 
at  length,  the  hour  for  their  departure 
arrived  and  they  were  standing  together 
on  the  platform  of  the  railway  station, 
the  little  doctor  turned  to  the  clergy- 
man and  the  editor,  and  said,  as  he 
pointed  back  at  the  dwelling  of  the 
society  with  his  umbrella: 

"  I  honestly  believe  those  are  the 
most  upright  and  sincere  people  I  have 
ever  met.  There  is  not  a  particle  of 
cant,  of  pretence,  or  sham  about  them, 
but  they  are  genuine,  through  and 
through." 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you,"  responded 
the  clergyman;    "I   was  just  thinking 


222  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

that  they  are  to  be  envied  the  freedom 
they  have  earned  to  always  say  precisely 
what  they  mean.  There  must  be  an 
immense  satisfaction  in  it." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  editor,  "  the  most 
ridiculous  thing  in  the  world  is  the 
deference  we  pay  to  Mrs.  Grundy." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

MR.    SCOTT'S   DECISION. 

As  the  year  of  Mr.  Scott's  probation- 
ary membership  drew  to  a  close  he 
received  a  letter  from  his  lady  cousin, 
Mrs.  Vincent,  reminding  him  of  his 
engagement  to  meet  her  and  his  other 
friends,  to  report  his  impressions  of  the 
Society  of  the  Perfect  Life,  and  his 
decision  as  to  becoming  a  full  or  coven- 
anting member.  He  replied,  promis- 
ing to  be  present  on  the  appointed  day, 
and  immediately  began  his  preparations 
for  the  journey.  He  had  a  long  talk 
with  Father  Temple,  in  which  they 
discussed  future  plans  and  prospects. 
The  leader  had  never  before  been  so 
full  of  courage  and  enthusiasm.  He 
wished  that  he  might  live  to  see  the 
whole  world  enjoying  the  benefits  of 
his  discoveries,  looking  forward  to  a 
time  when  friendly  co-operation  should 
take  the  place  of  selfish  competition. 


224  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

The  members  of  the  Society  had 
become  strongly  attached  to  Mr.  Scott, 
and  at  his  leave-taking  the  salutations 
were  so  affectionate  and  sincere  as  to 
move  him  deeply.  Quite  a  party  went 
over  to  the  station  to  see  him  off. 
George  Stanley  came  forward  to  press 
his  hand  and  wish  him  prosperity. 
Julia,  Minette,  and  many  others  gave 
him  ample  proofs  of  their  regard. 
Then  he  sprang  up  the  steps  into  the 
car  and  was  whirled  away  to  New 
York.  How  strange  it  seemed  to  him 
to  find  himself  again  in  the  atmosphere 
of  tobacco  and  whiskey-laden  breaths, 
and  to  begin  paying  out  money  for 
everything  he  wanted!  If  he  had 
dropped  down  from  another  planet  the 
change  could  not  have  impressed  him 
more. 

Behold  him  at  length  again  seated  in 
the  drawing-room  of  Mrs.  Vincent's 
handsome  residence,  prepared  to  dis- 
cuss and  explain  all  the  features  of  the 
new  life.  Mr.  Vincent  and  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Lancrford  and  his  wife  were  also 
present.     Mrs.  Vincent  opened  the  con- 


MR.   SCOTT'S   DECISION.  225 

versation    with    the     promptness    and 
vivacity  natural  to  her. 

"Cousin  George,"  she  began,  "our 
ideas  of  social  reform  have  changed 
somewhat  during  the  year  that  you 
have  spent  at  the  Society  of  the  Per- 
fect Life.  We  have  been  all  reading 
up  on  the  subject,  and  I  hope  you  will 
not  find  us  so  ignorant  in  regard  to  it 
as  we  were  a  year  ago.  The  Society 
you  visited  is  becoming  quite  well 
known.  We  have  read  some  of  Mr. 
Temple's  writings,  and  as  far  as  religion 
is  concerned,  even  Mr.  Langford  has 
to  admit  that  he  is  pretty  sound.  We 
are  not  so  sure  about  his  social  theories 
and  practices,  and  have  been  waiting 
in  some  suspense  to  hear  you  report." 

"It  makes  me  happy  to  know  that  I 
am  to  have  so  friendly  and  sympathetic 
an  audience,"  replied  Mr.  Scott. 
"How  shall  I  make  my  report? 
Would  you  like  to  question  me,  or 
shall  I  L>ive  eive  a  brief  and  succinct 
account  of  what  I  found  there  ? 

"I  should  like  to  have  Mr.  Scott 
give  us  a  clear,    connected   statement 


226  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

without  interruptions,"  said  Mr.  Vin- 
cent. "  If  he  fails  to  satisfy  our  curi- 
osity on  any  point  we  can  remember  it, 
and  after  he  has  finished  his  story  ask 
him  questions." 

"  That  will  be  the  best  way,"  said 
Mr.  Langford  ;  and  as  the  ladies  also 
signified  their  approval,  Mr.  Scott 
began  : 

"  I  will  try  to  sketch  the  Society  to 
you  just  as  it  would  appear,  and  as  it 
would  impress  you,  if  you  were  to  go 
there. 

"  First,  as  to  externals.  Picture  to 
yourselves  a  beautiful  valley ;  on  a  com- 
manding eminence  in  the  midst  of  it, 
and  surrounded  by  trees,  lawns,  and 
flower-gardens,  stands  a  stately  and  well- 
proportioned  edifice  of  brick,  trimmed 
with  granite.  This  edifice  is  designed 
for  a  unitary  home  for  fifty  or  sixty 
ordinary-sized  families,  or  about  three 
hundred  persons,  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren ;  and  it  is  full.  It  has  only  one 
kitchen,  where  the  cooking  is  done  for 
all ;  one  dining-room,  large  enough  to 
accommodate  everyone ;   one  laundry, 


MR.  SCOTT'S   DECISION.  227 

and  so  on.  There  is  a  large  Hall  in 
the  building,  which  serves  at  once  as  a 
chapel,  a  theater,  and  a  family  sitting- 
room.  The  Society  owns  broad  fields, 
with  orchards  and  vineyards,  and  busy 
factories.  The  most  perfect  order  and 
neatness  reign  everywhere. 

"Secondly,  as  to  organization.  All 
the  property  is  owned  in  common  ;  each 
member  has  a  voice  in  deciding  affairs, 
the  women  equally  with  the  men  ;  there 
is  no  friction,  but  the  utmost  harmony 
prevails.  The  Society  is  very  successful 
in  business,  and  the  income  is  now 
ample.  The  members  have  the  repu- 
tation of  being  perfectly  truthful  and 
honest  in  all  their  dealings.  It  is  a 
common  saying  among  their  neighbors 
that  the  word  of  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  the  Perfect  Life  is  as  good 
as  a  bond.  The  banks  are  ready  to 
lend  them  any  sums  of  money  they  may 
desire,  but  they  dislike  debt. 

"In  regard  to  spiritual  things,  I  con- 
sider them  much  in  advance  of  the 
world.  They  live  for  each  other 
instead    of    for    themselves,    and    this 


228  HEAVEN   ON   EARTH. 

makes  a  home  the  like  of  which  was 
never  seen  before  on  earth.  By  the 
way,  when  I  first  told  you  about  this 
society  a  year  ago,  Mr.  Langford  re- 
marked that  such  socialistic  movements 
were  all  alike,  and  all  equally  certain  to 
end  in  failure.  Permit  me  to  point 
out  to  at  the  beginning  of  our  talk  the 
inaccuracy  of  this  statement.  The 
Society  of  the  Perfect  Life  is  unique, 
quite  different  from  anything  ever 
before  attempted  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  so  far  as  we  know,  and  it  must 
be  judged  by  itself. 

11  As  to  the  life  I  led  there,  while  it 
seemed  very  strange  to  me  at  first,  I 
fell  into  their  ways  quite  readily.  When 
I  was  hungry  I  went  to  the  dining 
room,  where  I  was  abundantly  fed  ;  yet 
I  never  paid  any  board-bill.  When  I 
wanted  new  clothes  or  new  shoes  I 
went  to  the  society's  tailor  or  shoe- 
maker, and  was  fitted  to  my  taste. 
When  my  clothes  were  done  I  did  not 
even  ask  the  price  of  them,  but  simply 
carried  them  away  and  put  them  on. 
Their  cost  was  charged  to  the  common 


MR.   SCOTT'S   DECISION.  229 

'  Clothing  Account'  In  fact,  I  was  not 
charged  for  anything  while  I  was  there, 
and  actually  did  not  receive  nor  pay 
out  a  cent  of  money  for  nearly  a  year. 
I  worked  several  hours  each  day,  but 
received  no  wages.  My  health  was 
excellent  ;  I  never  felt  better  in  my  life. 
It  was  just  like  living  in  one's  father's 
family  with  severaf  hundred  brothers 
and  sisters,  all  nice,  refined,  lovable 
people. 

'The  fashions  in  vogue  at  the  society 
are  quite  different  from  ours,  but  I 
found  them  sensible  and  attractive.  I 
brought  with  me  some  photographs  of 
the  buildings  and  of  the  members, 
thinking  you  would  like  to  see  them." 

11  Indeed,  we  would,"  cried  the  ladies 
in  concert.  "You  were  very  (jood  to 
think  of  that." 

Mr.  Scott  went  to  a  side-table  and 
took  up  a  package  which  he  had  previ- 
ously placed  there.  He  quietly  undid 
it,  while  the  others  drew  their  chairs 
close  up  to  him.  There  were  several 
photographs  of  the  dwelling  and  fac- 
tories,  taken    from    various'  points    of 


230  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

view  ;  others  represented  a  large  group 
of  members  on  the  lawn,  with  Father 
Temple  standing  in  their  midst;  Minette 
singing  on  the  stage  in  the  Hall,  with 
Hugo  and  Julia  playing  her  accompani- 
ment ;  a  group  of  the  smallest  children, 
with  their  little  wheelbarrows  and 
wagons,  playing  under  the  tall  pine 
trees  ;  and  a  typical  "  fruit-bee."  There 
were  also  cabinet  portraits  of  Father 
Temple,  Mother  Temple,  Julia  Ford- 
ham,  and  half-a-dozen  others. 

"  I  will  make  these  part  of  my 
report,"  said  Mr.  Scott,  as  he  handed 
them  out. 

The  pictures  were  passed  around 
from  hand  to  hand,  and  eagerly  scanned. 

"What  a  strange  style  of  dress!" 
exclaimed  Mrs.  Langford.  "  Yet  it 
does  not  look  nearly  as  unattractive  as 
I  had  supposed  it  would  from  the  de- 
scription. But  these  are  all  girls  ;  did 
none  of  the  women  stand  in  the 
group  ?" 

"  Many  of  those  you  see  are  women 
of  thirty  and  forty,  and  some  of  them 
even  older,"  replied  Mr.  Scott. 


MR.  SCOTT'S  DECISION.  231 

"  Can  that  be  possible  ?  They  appear 
like  eirls,  with  their  short  hair  and  short 
dresses." 

"Yes,  it  gives  a  much  more  youthful 
appearance  than  do  your  fashions." 

"Who  is  this  crirl?"  asked  Mrs.  Vin- 
cent,  holding  up  a  photograph. 

"  Her  name  is  Julia  Fordham  ;  she  is 
the  same  who  is  playing  the  piano  in 
the  other  picture.  What  do  you  think 
of  her?" 

"She  would  be  beautiful  if  she  were 
properly  dressed  and  had  not  cut  off  her 
hair.  Are  you  specially  interested  in 
her  ?" 

"She  is  a  very  lovable  girl,"  replied 
Mr.  Scott.  "  But  let  us  not  be  drawn 
away  from  the  order  we  laid  down. 

"  I  wish  to  bring  clearly  to  your 
minds  the  fact  that  this  Society  has  now 
been  in  existence  long  enough  to 
demonstrate  fully  its  completeness  and 
its  many  advantages.  The  people 
composing  it  were  only  a  fair  average 
slice  of  our  population,  if  I  may  use 
such  an  expression  ;  therefore  I  think 
their  system  capable  of  general  adop- 


232  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

tion.      You    may    consider    my    report 
finished,  and  proceed  to  question  me." 

The    Rev.    Mr.    Langford   had    been 
examining      the      photographs      very 
thoughtfully,   particularly  those  of  the 
people.     He  looked  at  Father  Temple's 
portrait  a  long  time,  and  it  was  evident 
that  he  was  in  a  severe  exercise  of  mind. 
The  pictures,  and  what  Mr.  Scott  had 
reported,  had  impressed  upon  him  the 
fact  that  the  work  accomplished  by  the 
Society  was  too  great,  and  its  obvious 
lessons    too     important,    to     be   pooh- 
poohed  away.      It  was  difficult  for  him 
to  change  opinions  which  he  had  once 
formed,    but    he    was    an    honest,    fair- 
minded  man,  and  he  knew  that  we  must 
all  be  judged  by  our  fruits.     The  fruits 
of  the   Society  were  so  evidently  good 
as  to  compel  in  him  a  feeling  of  respect ; 
yet  it  cost   him  a  struggle   to   admit   to 
himself  that  a  movement  so  at  variance 
with    the    established    order    of    things 
could  be  worthy  of  consideration. 

"Mr.  Scott,"  he  said  at  length,  with 
great  seriousness  of  manner,  "I  have 
the  fullest  confidence  in  your  integrity 


MR.   SCOTT'S   DECISION.  233 

and  truthfulness,  and  I  want  to  ask  you, 
right  here  and  now,  whether  it  is  your 
honest  belief  that  this  Mr.  Temple  and 
his  followers  are  good,  moral  people? 
I  want  you  to  answer  me  that  without 
any  mental  reservation  whatever,  but  in 
the  plainest  possible  way." 

"I  certainly  do  consider  them  good, 
moral  people,"  replied  Mr.  Scott. 
"They  are  the  best  and  most  unselfish 
people  I  have  ever  personally  known." 

"  But  they  have  discarded  marriage, 
and  are  living  together  in  one  great 
home.  Now,  though  they  may  be  kind- 
hearted  and  unselfish  towards  each 
other  as  you  say,  do  you  consider  them 
to  be  leading  pure  and  moral  lives  ? " 

"  I  do,  as  I  have  already  told  you. 
But  you  need  not  take  my  unsupported 
word  for  it.  You  ouoht  to  know  enough 
about  human  nature  to  understand  that 
if  these  people  were  leading  lives  of 
hypocrisy,  preaching  the  doctrine  that 
we  must  all  be  saved  from  sin,  while 
they  practiced  sensual  self-indulgence, 
they  could  not  have  lived  together  in 
harmony  for  a   single  week.        Jealous 


234  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

ies  and  quarrels  would  have  sprung 
up  such  as  would  inevitably  have  dis- 
rupted the  Society.  The  fact  that 
they  have  gone  on  peacefully  and  har- 
moniously for  so  many  years  is  the 
strongest  possible  proof  that  they  have 
ofood  consciences  before  God.  I  should 
be  compelled  to  admit  that  from  my 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  even  if 
I  had  never  seen  them ;  but  having 
lived  with  them  for  a  year  I  can  add  the 
most  emphatic  personal  testimony  to 
their  uprightness." 

"  It  is  almost  incomprehensible  to  me 
how  such  a  system  can  exist,"  said  Mr. 
Langford.  "  My  observations  of  human 
nature  lead  me  to  distrust  it  pretty 
thoroughly.  I  cannot  see  how,  the 
rest  of  the  world  being  under  the  domin- 
ion of  sin,  this  particular  three  hundred 
should  be  saved  from  it  as  you  claim." 

"The  explanation  is  simple,"  replied 
Mr.  Scott.  "  Man  has  not  power  in 
himself  to  overcome  the  evil  one,  but 
God  has  that  power.  As  soon  as  we 
learn  to  let  the  spirit  of  God  control  us 
in  every  affair  of  life  we  are  saved  from 


MR.  SCOTT'S  DECISION.  235 

temptation  and  from  sin.  We  become 
filled  with  an  exceeding  great  love  of 
God  and  of  His  Son,  such  that  no 
other  thing  is  half  so  attractive  to  us. 
Then  nothing  can  tempt  us  to  do  any- 
thing which  would  be  displeasing  to 
God,  or  which  would  shut  off  the  cur- 
rent of  His  love.  It  is  not  probable 
that  the  three  hundred  persons  who 
now  compose  the  Society  of  the  Per- 
fect Life  would  have  achieved  this 
spiritual  victory  if  they  had  remained 
in  their  isolated,  worldly  homes,  and 
had  never  met  Father  Temple.  He 
is  the  medium  of  the  good,  heavenly 
spirit  to  his  followers.  It  is  he  who 
upholds  them  in  the  attitude  of  faith, 
trust,  and  waiting  on  inspiration.  I 
do  not  know  that  all  those  people 
are  yet  sufficiently  well-established  in 
their  spiritual  self-conquest,  or  that 
they  might  not  relapse  into  tempta- 
tions and  selfishness  if  Father  Temple's 
controlling  influence  were  removed,  or 
if  they  were  to  go  back  into  the 
world  again." 

"That  statement    brings  the  matter 


230  HEAVEN  ON  EARTH. 

more  within  my  comprehension,"  said 
Mr.  Langforcl.  "  Mr.  Temple  is  evi- 
dently a  very  remarkable  man.  It  fol- 
lows from  what  you  say,  does  it  not, 
that  the  system  he  has  established  is 
not  capable  of  general  adoption,  except 
as  such  inspired  leaders  can  be  found  ?'' 

"Yes,  the  system  is  dependent  on 
such  leadership.  There  must  also  be  a 
change  of  heart  and  a  putting  away  of 
selfishness  before  mankind  can  realize 
such  great  blessings  as  broad  unity  and 
close  fellowship  with  large  numbers." 

"I  do  not  care  to  ask  any  more  ques- 
tions," said  Mr.  Langford.  "The 
whole  matter  seems  to  me  to  hinge  on 
the  character  of  the  people  and  of  the 
lives  they  lead.  If  the  new  system 
makes  better  men  and  women  than  the 
old  one,  then  it  is  a  better  system,  and 
it  is  useless  to  contend  otherwise. 
What  you  say  satisfies  me  on  that  point, 
and  I  do  not  feel  like  making  small, 
carping  objections  to  their  way  of  life. 
If  it  is  possible  to  adopt  better  social 
forms,  such  as  will  shut  out  evil  influ- 
ences and   invite  in  good   ones,  I,  as  a 


MR.  SCOTT'S   DECISION.  237 

minister  of  the  gospel,  ought  to  wel- 
come them ;  and  I  can  readily  under- 
stand that  such  homes,  where  none  of 
the  worst  temptations  could  enter,  and 
where  each  member  was  watchful  of 
the  good  of  all  the  others,  would  do 
much  to  elevate  mankind." 

"The  important  thing  is  to  get  rid  of 
selfishness,"  said  Mr.  Scott.  "  No 
social  reform  will  amount  to  much  that 
does  not  accomplish  that." 

"One  feature  of  the  new  system 
struck  me  as  being  really  admirable," 
said  Mrs.  Langford.  "Mr.  Scott  tells 
us  that  the  women  have  an  equal  voice 
with  the  men  in  deciding  all  matters. 
Does  that  hold  £ood  in  regard  to  busi- 
ness  moves,  questions  of  investment, 
the  election  of  managers,  and  so  on  ? " 

"  Certainly,"  replied  Mr.  Scott ;  "  the 
women  are  made  perfectly  free  to  pro- 
pose new  moves,  to  take  part  in  discus- 
sions, and  to  vote  on  all  questions. 
Their  votes  count  for  as  much  as,  the 
men  s. 

"  That  is  excellent  "  said  Mrs.  Lane- 
ford.  "It  tempts  me  to  wish  to  join 
the  society  myself." 


238  HEAVEN  ON   EARTH. 

Mr.  Langford  looked  at  his  worthy 
spouse  and  smiled.  He  had  grown 
used  to  her  enthusiasm  for  women's 
rights. 

Mr.  Scott  continued  : 

"  A  year  under  Father  Temple's  in- 
struction has  given  me  a  new  com- 
prehension of  the  bearing  our  lives  have 
on  the  question  of  saving  our  souls.  I 
have  heard  plenty  of  good  doctrine 
preached  on  this  subject  in  the  churches, 
but  I  have  not  seen  it  practised  before 
in  a  saving  way.  The  salvation  of  our 
souls  is  unquestionably  the  supremely 
important  object,  to  which  all  our  efforts 
in  this  life  should  be  directed.  '  What 
shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole 
world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ? '  That  is 
a  plain,  sensible  question.  Now  let  us 
suppose  for  a  moment  that  we  can  look 
down  on  the  world  as  the  angels  do  ; 
what  should  we  see  ?  Nations  armed 
with  soldiers,  cruisers,  and  cannon, 
watching  each  other  like  savage  bull- 
dogs, each  one  ready  to  go  to  war  and 
to  subjugate  another  whenever  it  can  be 
caught   at  a   disadvantage  ;    men    and 


MR.   SCOTT'S  DECISION.  239 

women  everywhere  engaged  in  a  fierce 
strife  of  competition  for  the  possession 
of  power  and  wealth,  the  strong  crush- 
ing the  weak,  some  living  in  gross 
luxury,  others  starving ;  prisons  filled 
with  those  who  have  committed  crimes; 
asylums  filled  with  those  who  have  lost 
their  reason  in  the  mad  rush  of  modern 
life ;  poorhouses  filled  with  wretched 
paupers  ;  a  large  police  force  maintained 
in  every  city  in  order  that  honest  citi- 
zens may  go  about  without  being  killed 
and  robbed ;  married  life  marked  by 
divorces,  jealousies,  and  murders 'with- 
out number  ;  thousands  of  children  be- 
gotten while  their  parents  were  intoxi- 
cated, and  by  criminals ;  the  whole 
system  of  human  propagation  as  un- 
scientific as  possible.  That  is  what  we 
should  see.  It  is  not  a  pleasant  or 
refined  picture,  is  it?" 

"  I  declare,  cousin  George,"  exclaimed 
Mrs.  Vincent,  "  you  have  a  strange  way 
of  holding  things  up  to  us  !  There  is 
a  great  deal  of  good  in  the  world  as 
well  as  evil." 

"  That  is  quite  true,  blit  must  we  not 


240  HEAVEN   ON   EARTH. 

get  rid  of  the  evil  before  we  shall  be  fit 
to  enter  heaven  ?  It  seems  to  me  that 
men  are  so  swamped  in  the  miseries  of 
the  old  social  system  that  they  have 
grown  indifferent  to  the  question  of 
salvation." 

11  The  fact  is  we  haven't  time  to  attend 
to  it  properly,"  said  Mr.  Vincent. 
"  Most  men  have  to  give  their  whole 
time  and  strength  to  earning  their  bread 
and  butter.  They  go  to  church  once  a 
week,  perhaps,  and  let  such  good  men 
as  Mr.  Langford  talk  to  them  for  an 
noun  That  is  all  the  attention  they 
can  afford  to  give  to  the  subject." 

"  Why,  Reginald,  please  don't  talk 
so  ;  it  sounds  positively  irreligious,"  said 
Mrs.  Vincent. 

"  But  is  it  not  true  ?" 

"Unhappily  it  is  true  of  too  many," 
said  Mr.  Langrford.  "It  is  an  awful 
state  of  things.  Our  only  hope  is  in 
God's  mercy." 

"I  do  not  think  you  realize  how 
much  evil  is  protected  and  fostered  by 
these  old  institutions,  such  as  the 
private    ownership    of    property,    and 


MR.  SCOTT'S   DECISION.  241 

marriage,"  said  Mr.  Scott.  "  It  is  true 
that  in  the  old  system  men  are  com- 
pelled to  strive  with  their  fellows  for 
the  means  of  subsistence.  They  have 
to  look  out  for  their  wives  and  little 
ones,  and  that  seems  a  worthy  motive. 
But  acquisitiveness  becomes  a  passion, 
cold  and  cruel,  willing  to  ruin  others 
for  its  own  gain.  It  hardens  the  heart 
and  deadens  the  spiritual  nature.  I 
once  saw  an  eagle  catch  and  devour  an 
honest  hen.  It  swooped  down  upon  its 
defenceless  prey,  seizing  it  alive  in 
its  horrid  claws.  Then  with  its  great,, 
curved  beak  it  stripped  the  feathers 
from  the  side  of  its  screaming  victim, 
and  with  one  strong  blow  of  its  bill 
penetrated  the  abdomen  and  drew  forth 
the  steaming  entrails  to  devour  them. 
It  is  a  dreadful  sight  thus  to  see  a 
strong,  soulless  creature  destroy  a 
defenceless  one.  There  is  no  trace  of 
sympathy,  no  hesitation,  but  a  calm, 
deliberate  rending  of  the  victim.  But 
have  you  not  seen  equally  cold-blooded 
and  cruel  things  done  in  what  is  called 
business'?       I    have    known   men   with 


243  HEAVEN  .ON   EARTH. 

enormous  capital  to  deliberately  plan 
the  financial  ruin  of  those  less  fortified, 
utterly  regardless  of  the  suffering  and 
want  they  were  bringing  on  innocent 
mothers  and  children.  Such  soulless 
men  are  the  eagles  of  society." 

"That  is  a  common  sight,"  said  Mr. 
Vincent.  "  It  is  one  of  the  incidents  of 
competition." 

"  Contrast  now,  if  you  will,"  con- 
tinued Mr.  Scott,  "  the  two  systems  I 
have  pictured  to  you.  In  the  Society 
of  the  Perfect  Life  not  a  single  crime 
has  been  committed  during  a  quarter  of 
a  century ;  nor  has  there  been  an  in- 
stance of  poverty,  want,  or  neglect.  It 
is  a  state  where  there  is  no  strife  nor 
intrigue,  but  where  brotherly  love  and 
Christian  fellowship  reign.  Above  all, 
every  individual  there  has  ample  time 
to  attend  to  his  salvation.  That  is  his 
first  business,  morning,  noon,  and  night. 
If  all  the  world  would  put  away  selfish- 
ness and  adopt  that  system,  there  would 
no  longer  be  any  need  of  politicians, 
lawyers,  soldiers,  or  policemen.  Every- 
one would  do  his  share  of  honest  toil 


MR.  SCOTT'S  DECISION.  243 

but  none  would  need  to  labor  more 
than  three  or  four  hours  daily  to  pro- 
duce all  that  was  required.  The  rest 
of  the  time  could  be  devoted  to  improv- 
ing pursuits  and  innocent  recreations. 
It  would  be  a  system  of  universal  co- 
operation, with  love  as  the  medium  of 
exchange. 

"  Looking  on  the  two  systems,  can 
you  ask  me  in  which  I  shall  choose  to 
cast  my  lot?  Assuredly,  I  shall  return 
to  the  little  Heaven  on  Earth,  where  I 
have  been  so  happy,  and  where  I  have 
learned  so  much  of  the  deeper  philos- 
ophy of  life." 

THE    END. 


